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JAPAN 


AS IT WAS AND IS 


B Y 

RICHARD HILDRETH, 

• » 

AUTHOR OF 

“HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES,” ETO. 


BOSTON: 

PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY. 
NEW YOKE: J. C. DERBY. 

1 8 5 5 







♦ 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
RICHARD HILDRETH, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 


By trftnsfei' 

UlC 6 1916 





Stereotyped b; 
HOBART & ROBBINS, 

New Engliind Type and Stereotype Foundery, 
BOSTON. 


I 


^ )tPArtTAjf^-v. 

PECEiven A 

mar 27 

« H A 


-7 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


In collecting materials for a biography of the first ex¬ 
plorers and planters of New England and Virginia, I was 
carried to Japan, where I happened to arrive (in the spirit) 
almost simultaneously with Commodore Perry’s expedition. 
My interest thus roused in this secluded country has pro¬ 
duced this book, into which I have put the cream skimmed, 
or, as I might say, in some cases, the juices laboriously 
expressed, from a good many volumes, the greater part 
not very accessible nor very inviting to the general reader, 
but still containing much that is curious and entertaining, 
and, to most readers, new; which curiosities, novelties, 
and palatable extracts, those who choose will thus be enabled 
to enjoy without the labor that I have undergone in their 
collection and arrangement — the former, indeed, a labor of 
love for my own satisfaction; the latter, one of duty — not 
to say of necessity — for the pleasure of the reading and 
book-buying public. 

Instead of attempting, as others have done, to cast into a 
systematic shape observations of very diiferent dates, I have 
preferred to follow the historic method, and to let the reader 
see Japan with the successive eyes of all those who have 
visited it, and who have committed their observations and 
reflections to paper and print. The number of these observ- 



II 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


ers, it will be found, is very considerable ; while their char¬ 
acters, objects and points of view, have been widely different; 
and perhaps the reader may reach the same conclusion that 
I have : that, with all that is said of the seclusion of Japan, 
there are few countries of the East which we have the means 
of knowing better, or so well. 

The complete history of the Portuguese, Spanish and 
Dutch relations with the Japanese is not to be found else¬ 
where in English; nor in any language, in a single work ; 
while in no other book have the English and American rela¬ 
tions been so fully treated. Many extraordinary characters 
and adventures make their appearance on the scene, and the 
reader will have no ground to complain at least of want of 
variety. 

How little the history of Japan and of its former relations 
with Portugal and Holland are known—even in quarters 
where information on the subject might be said to constitute 
an official duty — is apparent in the following passage in a 
letter addressed from the State Department at Washington 
to the Secretary of the Navy, in explanation of the grounds, 
reasons and objects, of our late mission to Japan, and intended 
as instructions to the envoy : “ Since the islands of Japan 
were first visited by European nations, efforts have constantly 
been made by the various maritime powers to establish com¬ 
mercial intercourse with a country whose large population 
and reputed wealth hold out great temptations to mercantile 
enterprise. Portugal was the first to make the attempt, and 
her example was followed by Holland, England, Spain and 
Russia, and finally by the United States. All these at¬ 
tempts^ however, have thus far been unsuccessful ; the 
permission enjoyed for a short period by the Portuguese, 
and that granted to Holland to send annually a single 
vessel to the port of Nagasaki, hardly deserving to be con¬ 
sidered exceptions to this remark.” 




ADVERTISEMENT. 


Ill 


From Kampfer, whose name has become so identified with 
Japan, but into whose folios few have the opportunity or 
courage to look, I have made very liberal extracts. Few 
travellers have equalled him in picturesque power. His 
descriptions have indeed the completeness, and finish, and, at 
the same time, the naturalness and absence of all aiGfectation, 
with much of the same quiet humor, characteristic of the best 
Dutch pictures. I have preferred to introduce entire the 
work of such an artist, rather than to run the risk of spoil¬ 
ing it by attempting a paraphrase; only, as I had so many 
other volumes on hand, the substance, or at least the spirit, 
of which was to be transferred to mine, and as folios are no 
longer in fashion, I have found it necessary in quoting him 
to retrench a little the superabundance of his words. It is 
from his work also that the ornamental title-page is copied, 
stated by his editor to be after a style fashionable in Japan, 
where dragons are held in great repute. Kampfer says, 
that heads of these imaginary animals are placed over the 
doors of houses all over the East — among the Mahometans 
of Arabia and Persia, as well as in China and Japan — to 
keep olF, as the Mahometans say, the envious from disturb¬ 
ing the peace of families. Perhaps the Japanese authors 
surround their title-pages with them in hopes to frighten 
away the critics. 

The outline map, copied principally from that given in the 
atlas of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 
contains, with the observations annexed to it, and the note 
H of the appendix^ about all that we know of the geography 
of Japan — all at least that would interest the general reader. 
The contour of the coast is that delineated in our sea-charts, 
and though probably not very correct, is much more so than 
that of the Japanese maps; which, however large and par¬ 
ticular, are not much to be relied upon, at least in this respect. 



IV 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The division into provinces of course rests upon Japanese 
authority. 

In giving Japanese names and words, I have aimed at a 
certain uniformity; but, like all other writers on Japan, 
have failed to attain it. The Portuguese missionaries, or at - 
least their translators into Latin, in representing Japanese 
names, employed c with the force of k before the vowels a, 
0 , and and with the force of 5 .before e and i; which 
same sound of 5, in common with that of ts^ they some¬ 
times represented by x. In the earlier part of the book I 
have, in relation to several names known only, or chiefly, 
through these writers, followed their usage; though gener¬ 
ally, in the representation of Japanese names and words, I 
have avoided the use of these ambiguous letters, and have 
endeavored to conform to the method of representing the 
Japanese syllables proposed by Siebold, and of which an 
account is given in the Appendix. 

The daguerreotype views and portraits taken by the artists 
attached to Commodore Perry’s expedition, the publication 
of which may soon be hoped for, will afibrd much more 
authentic pictures of the externals of Japan than yet have 
appeared; and, from the limited stay and opportunities of 
observation enjoyed by those attached to that expedition, 
must constitute their chief contribution to our knowledge 
of the Japanese empire. 

Boston, June ls;f, 1855. 


B.-H. 



CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 1. 

Earliest European Knowledge of Japan. — Japanese Histories. — Marco Polo’s Account of 
the Mongol or Tartar Invasion. — Accounts of the same Event given by the Chinese and 
Japanese Annalists. — a. d. 1281 or 1283,. 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Portuguese Empire in the East. — Discovery of Japan. — Galvano’s Account of it. — Fernam 
Mendez Pinto’s Account of his First Visit to Japan, and Adventures there. — Japanese 
Account of the First Arrival of Portuguese. — a. d. 1542-5,. 20 


CHAPTER III. 

Pinto’s Second Visit to Japan. — Angiro, or Paul of the Holy Faith. — A. D. 1547—1548, . 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Religious Faith Three Centuries ago. — Zeal of the Portuguese Conquerors. — Antonio Qal- 


vano. — Missionary Seminaries at Teruate and Goa. — Order of the Jesuits. — Francis 
Xavier.— Ilis Mission to India. — His Mission to Japan. — His Companion, Cosme De 
Torres. — The Philippine Islands. — A. D. 1542—1550,. 41 


CHAPTER V. 

Political and Religious Condition of Japan, as found by the Portuguese. — The Jacatas, or 
Kings, and their Vassals. — Revenues. — Money. — Distinction of Ranks. — The Kubo- 


Sama. — The Dairi. — Sinto. — Buddhism. — Siuto. — A. D. 1550,. 53 

CHAPTER VI. 

Civilization of the Japanese. — Animals. — Agriculture. — Arts. — Houses. — Ships. — Lit¬ 
erature. — Jurisprudence. — Character of the Japanese. —Their Custom of cutting them¬ 
selves open. — A. D. 1550,.67 


CHAPTER VII. 


Preaching of Xavier. — Pinto’s Third Visit to Japan. — A. d. 1550—1551, 


71 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Progress of the Missions under Fathers De Torres and Nugnez Barreto, 
fourth Time in Japan. — A. n. 1551—1557,.. 

1 * 


■Mendez Pinto a 
.76 










VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IX. 

Louis Almeida. — The Missionaries establish themselves at Miako. — Louis Froez. — Princes 
converted in Xirao. — Rise of Nobunanga. — Prosperity of the Missions. — Noble and 
Princely Converts. — Nagasaki built.—Nobunanga makes himself Emperor. — A. D. 1557 
— 1577,. 79 


CHAPTER X. 

Father Yalignani. — State of tlie Missions. — Conversion and Baptism of the King of Bungo. 
— Growth of Nagasaki. — Embassy to the Pope. — Documents relating to this Embassy. 
A. D. 1577—1586,. 84 


CHAPTER :^I. 

Events meanwhile in Japan. — Downfall of Nobunanga. — Accession of Faxiba, afterwards 
known as Kambakundono, and, finally, as Taiko-Sama. — Edict against the Jesuits. — 
Return of the Ambassadors. — A. d. 1582—1588, . 95 


CHAPTER XII. 

Recapitulation. — Extent of the Japanese Empire.—Yalignani arrives at Nagasaki.— 
Progress hitherto of the Catholic Faith. The Emperor’s Projects against China. — 
Yalignani’s Yisit to the Emi)eror at Miako. — Ucondono. — The returned Japanese Am¬ 
bassadors.— Audience given to Yalignani. — The Yiceroy’s Letter. — The Interpreter 
Rodriguez. — a. d. 1588 — 1593, . 100 

CHAPTER XIII. 

New Troubles of the Missionaries from their own Countrymen. — The Emperor claims 
Homage of the Governor of the Philippines.— Mutual Jealousies of the Portuguese and 
Spaniards. — Spanish Adventurers in Japan. — The Emperor’s Suspicions excited. — Ilis 
Reply to the Yiceroy of Goa.— A. n. 1591—1592,. 108 


CHAPTER XIV. 

The Expedition against Corea. — The Emperor associates his Nephew.— City of Fusimi. 
— Correspondence of the Emperor with the Governor of Manilla. — The Jesuits denounced 
by the Spanish Envoys. — Consequences thereof. — Departure of Yalignani. — a. n. 
1592,. 112 


CHAPTER XV. 

Progress of thd Corean AYar. — Success of the Japanese. —Tsukamadono Yiceroy of Corea. 
— Edict of the Emperor for disarming the Converts in Ximo. — Disgrace and Downfall of 
the Royal Family of Bungo. — Terazaba, Governor of Nagasaki. — His Conversion and 
Friendly Acts. — A. n. 1592—1593,. 115 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Jealousy on the part of the Dominicans and Franciscans towards the Jesuits. — This Jeal¬ 
ousy cooperates with the Mercantile Jealousy of the Spaniards at Manilla. — Franciscan 
Friars establish themselves at Miako, Osaka and Nagasaki. — Edicts against them. — 
Deposition and Death of the Emperor’s Nephew. — A. n. 1593—1595,. 117 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Great Earthquake. — Mission from China. — Arrival of a Spanish Galleon. — Friars on 
board her. — New Accusations on her Account against the Jesuits. — Connection of 
the Jesuits with the Trade to Japan. — Arrest of Missionaries and Converts.—First 
Martyrs. — a. d. 1595—1597,. 120 












CONTENTS. 


VII 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

New Edict for the Deportation of the Jesuits. — Its Partial Evasion. — New Correspondence 
between the Philippines and Japan.—Taiko-Sama’s Justification of his recent Proceed¬ 
ings.— New Destruction of Churches in Ximo. — Taiko-Sama’s Death. — Ilis preceding 
Efiorts to secure his own Deification and the Succession of his infant Son Pide Jori. 
— Regency. — Ge-Jas its Head, with the Title of Daysu-Sama. — a. n. 1597—1599, .125 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Evacuation of Corea. — Return of the converted Princes. — Favorable Disposition of Daysu- 
Sama.— Third Visit of Father Valignani. — Civil War between Daysu-Sama and his 
Co-Regents. — His Triumph. — Disgrace and Execution of Tsukamidono. — Daysu-Sama 
takes the Title of Ogosho-Sama, and still favors the Converts. — Influx of Dominican and 
Franciscan Friars — Flourishing Condition of the Church. — Local Persecutions. — A. d. 
1599—1609,. 128 


CHAPTER XX. 

Attempt of the English and Dutch to discover a New Route to the far East. — Voyages 
round the World. — Attempted English Voyage to Japan. — English and Dutch Voyages 
to India. — First Dutch Voyage to Japan. — Adams, the English Pilot. — His Adventures 
and Detention in Japan. — a. d. 1513—1607,. 132 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Spanish Friars in Japan. — Extension of Japanese Trade. — Progress of the Dutch in the 
Eastern Seas. —They open a Trade with Japan. — Emperor’s Letter. — Shipwreck of Don 
Rodrigo De Vivero on the Japanese Coast. — His Reception, Observations and Departure. 
— Destruction of a Portuguese Carac by the Japanese. — Another Dutch Ship arrives.— 
Spex’s Charter. — Embassies from Macao and New Spain. — Father Louis Sotelo and his 
Projects. — A. D. 1607—1618,. 140 

CHAPTER XXII, 

Origin and Commencement of English Intercourse with Japan. — Captain Saris’ Voyage 
thither, and Travels and Observations there.—New Spanish Embassy from the Philip¬ 
pines. — Commercial Rivalry of the Dutch and English. — Richard Cocks, Head of the 
English Factory. — A. n. 1611—1613, . 160 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Ecclesiastical Retrospect. — New Persecution.—Edict of Banishment against the Mission¬ 
aries. — Civil War between ITde Jori and Ogosho-Sama. —Triumph of Ogosho-Sama. — His 
Death. — Persecution more violent than ever.—Mutual Rancor of the Jesuits and the 
Friars. — Progress of Martyrdom. — The English and Dutch.— a. d, 1613—1620, . . 175 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Collisions of the Dutch and English in the Eastern Seas — The English retire from Japan. — 
The Spaniards repelled. — Progress of the Persecution. — Japanese Ports, except Firando 
and Nagasaki,'closed to Foreigners.— Charges in Europe against the Jesuits. — Fathers 
Sotelo and Collado. — Torment of the Fosse. — Apostasies. — The Portuguese confined to 
Desima. — Rebellion of Ximabara. —The Portuguese Excluded. — Ambassadors put to 
Death.—A. n. 1621—1640,. 182 

CHAPTERXXV. 

Policy of the Dutch.—Affair of Nuyts. — Haganaar’s Visits to Japan. — Caron’s Account 
of Japan. — Income of the Emperor and the Nobles. — Military Force. — Social and Politi¬ 
cal Position of the Nobles. — Justice.—Relation of the Dutch to the Persecution of the 
Catholics. — The Dutch removed from Firando and confined in Desima. — Attempts of the 
English, Portuguese and French, at Intercourse with Japan. — Final Extinction of the 
CaSiolic Faith. —A. D. 1620—1707,. 193 









VIII 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

Portuguese Trade to Japan. — Dutch Trade. — Silver, Gold and Copper, the chief Articles of 
Export. — Export of Silver prohibited. — Chinese Trade.—Its Increase after the Acces¬ 
sion of the Mant-chew Dynasty. — Chinese Temples at Nagasaki.— A Buddhist Doctor 
from China. — Edict on the Subject of Household Worship. — Restrictions on the Dutch 
Trade. — Increase in the Number of Chinese Visitors to Nagasaki. . Their Objwts. — 
Restrictions on the Chinese Trade.—The Chinese shut up in a Factory.Trade with 
Lew Chew. —a. d. 1542—1690,. 206 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Engelbert Kiimpfer. — His Visit to Japan. — Desima and its Inhabitants as described by him. 

— A. D. 1690, . . 

CHAPTER XX Y III. 

Particular Statement as to the Dutch Trade as it existed in Kampfer’s Time. — Arrival of the 
Ships — Unlarling. — Passes. — Imports. — Company and Private Goods.— Kambangs, or 
Public Sales. — Duties — Profits. — Exports. — Departure of the Ships. — Smuggling. — 
Execution of Smugglers,.241 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Nagasaki and its Vicinity as seen by Kampfer. — Imperial Governors. — Their Officers and 
Palaces. — Municipal System. — Street Government. — Mutual Responsibility. — Adminis¬ 
tration of Justice. — Taxes. — Government of other Towns. — Adjacent Country. — The 
God Suwa and his Matsuri. — a. d, 1690—1692,. 256 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Kampfer’s Two Journeys to Court. — Preparations. — Presents. — Japanese Attendants.— 
Packing the Baggage and Riding on Horseback. — Japanese Love of Botany. — Accou¬ 
trements.— Road-Books. —Norimons and Kangos. — a. d. 1690—1692,. 277 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Highways. — Rivers. — Fords. — Ferries. — Bridges. — Water Part of the Journey. — Coast 
and Islands. — Frail Structure of Japanese Vessels. — Description of them. — Buildings on 
the Route. — Dwelling-Houses. — Castles. — Towns. — Villages. — Cottages. — Proclama¬ 
tion Places.—Places of Execution.—Tiras or Buddhist Temples. — Mias or Sinto 
Temples. — Idols and Amulets,.288 

CHAPTER XXXII. ^ 

Post-Houses. — Imperial Messengers. — Inns. — Houses. — Their Furniture and Interior 
Arrangements. — Bathing and Sweating House. — Gardens. — Refreshment Houses. — 
What they Provide. — Tea,.304 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Number of People on the Road. — Princely Retinues. — Pilgrims to Isje. — Siunse Pilgrims. 

— N aked Devotions. — Religious Beggars. — Begging Order of N uns. — Jamabo, or Moun¬ 

tain Priests.—Buddhist Beggars. — Singular Bell-Chiming.— Hucksters and Pedlers.— 
Courtesans, ..314 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Departure from Nagasaki. — Train of the Dutch. — The Day’s Journey. — Treatment of the 
Dutch. — Respect shown them in the Island of Ximo. — Care with which they are 
Watched. — Inns at which they Lodge. — Their Reception and Treatment there. — Polite¬ 
ness of the Japanese. — Lucky and Unlucky Days. — Seimei,the Astrologer,.326 














CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

From Nagasaki to Kokura. — Simonoseki. — Water Journey to Osaka. — Description of that 
City.—Its Castle. — Interview with the Governors. — From Osaka to Miako.—Jodo 
and its Castle. — Fusimi. — Entrance into Miako. — Visit to the Chief Justice and the Gov¬ 
ernors. — Description of Miako. — Palace of the Dairi. — Castle. — Manufactures and Trade. 
— Authority of the Chief Justice. —Police.— Crimes,.336 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Lake Oitz. — Mount Jesan— Japanese Legends. — A Japanese Patent Medicine. — Quano. 

— Mia. — Array. — Policy of the Emperors. — Kakegawa. — A Town on Fire. — Seruga. 

— Kuno. — Passage of a rapid River. — Fusi-no-jama, or Mount Fusi. — Crossing the 

Peninsula of Idsu. — Second Searching Place. — Purgatory Lake. — Odawara. — Coast of 
the Ray of Jedo. — A Live Saint. —Kanagawa. — Sinagawa. — Jedo. — Imperial Castles 
and Palace,.352 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Personages to be Visited. — Visit to the Emperor. —First Audience. — Second Audience. — 
Visits to the Houses of the Councillors. — Visits to the Governors of Jedo and the Temple 
Lords. — Visits to the Houses of the Governors of Nagasaki. — Audience of Leave. — 
Return. — Visits to Temples in the Vicinity of Miako. — A. d. 1691—1692,. 365 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Further Decline of the Dutch Ti’ade. — Degi’adation of the Japanese Coins. — The Dutch 
threaten to withdraw from Japan. — Restrictions on the Chinese Trade. — Probable Cause 
of the Policy adopted by the Japanese. — Drain of the precious Metals. — New Basis upon 
which future Trade must be arranged, 1696—1750,. 383 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Thunberg’s Visit to Japan. — Searches and E.\aminations.—Smuggling. — Interpreters.— 
Desima. — Imports and E.Kports. — Unicorn’s Horn and Ginseng. — Soy.—The Dutch 
at Desima. — Japanese Mistresses. — Japanese Women. — Studying the Language.— 
Botanizing. — Clocks. — New-Year’s Day. — Trampling on Images. — Departure for Jedo. 

— Journey through the Island of Ximo. —Japanese Houses and Furniture. —Manufacture 

of Paper. — Practice of Bathing. — Simonoseki. — Voyage to Osaka. — Children.—From 
Osaka to Miako. — Agriculture. — Animals. — A. d. 1775—1776,. 387 

CHAPTER XL. 

Jap^anese Merchants. — Journey from Miako to Jedo. — Botany of the Mountains.— 
Rainy Weather. — Coverings for the Head and Feet. — Jedo.— Astronomers and Physi¬ 
cians. — Acupuncture. — Moxa. — Other Japanese Remedies. — Method of Wearing the 
Hair.— Visits to the Emperor and his Chief Officers. — Japanese Dress. — Books and 
Maps. — Succession of Emperors. — Departure from Jedo. — Gnats. — Fire-Flies.— 
Threshing.— Vegetables and Fruit.— Condition of the Japanese Farmer. — Casting Cop¬ 
per.— Actor'S and Dancers. — Thunberg’s Opinion of the Japanese. — a. d. 1775—1776, 406 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Isaac Titsingh. — His Residence in Japan.—Translations from the Japanese. — Annals 
of the Dairi. — Memoirs of the Siogun. — Liberal Ideas in Japan. — Man-iage Ceremonies. 

— Funeral Ceremonies. — Mourning. — Feast of Lanterns. — A. d. 1779—1791, . . . 424 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Exploration of the Northern Japanese Seas. — First Russian Mission to Japan. — Professor¬ 
ship of Japanese at Irkutsk. — New Restrictions on the Dutch. — Embarrassments 
growing out of the War of the French Revolution. — American Flag at Nagasaki. — 









X 


CONTENTS. 


Captain Stewart. — Ingenuity of a Japanese Fisherman. — Ileer Doeff, Director at De- 
sima. — Suspicious Proceedings of Captain Stewart.—Russian Embassy.—Klaproth’s 
Knowledge of Japanese. — DoeflTs First Journey to Jedo. — Dutch Trade in 1804 and 
1806. — An American Ship at Nagasaki. —Tlie British Frigate Phaeton. —No ships from 
Batavia. — The Dutch on Short Allowance. — English Ships from Batavia. — Communica¬ 
tion again Suspended. — Dutch and Japanese Dictionary. — Children at the Factory.— 
A. D. 1X92—1817,... 444 


CHAPTER XLIII. 

Golownin’s Capture and Imprisonment. — Conveyance to Hakodade. — Reception and Im¬ 
prisonment. — Interpreters. — Interviews with the Governor. — Removal to .Matsmai. — 
A Pupil in Russian. — A Japanese Astronomer. — Escape and Recapture. — Treatment 
afterwards. — Savans from Jedo. —Japanese Science. — European News. —A Japanese 
Free-Thinker. — Soldiers. — Their Amusements.—Thoughts on a Wedding. — Domestic 
Arrangements. — New Year. — Return of the Diana. — Reprisals.— A Japanese Mer¬ 
chant and his Female Friend.— Second Return of the Diana.—Third Return of the 
Diana.— Interview on Shore.—Surrender of the Prisoners. — Japanese Notification.— 
The Merchant at Home. —The Mercantile Class in Japan. — a. d. 1811 — 1815, . . . 460 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Renewal of the Dutch Trade. — Captain Gordon in the Bay of Jedo. — Fisscher. — Meylan. — 
Siebold. — British Mutineers. — Voyage of the Morrison. — Japanese Edict. — The Sara- 
mang at Nagasaki. — The Mercator in the Bay of Jedo. — Commodore Biddle in the Bay 
of Jedo. —Shipwrecked Americans. — French Ships of War at Nagasaki. — The Preble 
at Nagasaki.— Surveying Ship Mariner in the Bays of Jedo and Simoda. — New Notifica¬ 
tion tln-ough the Dutch. — a. d. 1847—1850,. 484 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Foreign Relations. —New Siogun. — Dutch Trade. — Chinese Trade. — American Embassy. 

— Its Object. — Letter to the Emperor. — Perry’s First Visit to the Bay of Jedo. — Death 
of the Siogun. — Perry’s Second Visit to the Bay of Jedo. — Negotiation of a Treaty.— 
The Treaty as agreed to. — Simoda. — Hakodade. — Additional Regulations. — Japanese 
Currency. — Burrow’s Visit to the Bay of Jedo. — Third Visit of the American Stejimers, 

— Russian and English Negotiations. — Exchange of Ratifications. — Earthquake, . . 506 


APPENDIX. 


Note A. — The Japanese Language and Literature,. . 

“ B.—Japanese Names,.. 

“ C. — Use of Fire-Arms in the East,.| . 552 

“ D. — Fernam Mendez Pinto,.' | 553 

“ E- — Earliest English and Dutch Adventures in the East. — Goa,.555 

“ F. —Japanese Daring and Adventure Exterior to the Limits of Japan,.556 

“ G. — Products of Japan. — Probable Effect of Opening Japan to Foreign Trade. 

by S. Wells Williams,.. 

“ H. — Account of Japan, Chiefly Extracted from Japanese Works,.562 

“ 1. — Omitted Documents,.. 
















GLOSSARY. 


Amida. —Under this name is worshipped, in Japan, the primitive Buddha, representing, 
in fact, the primal deity. 

Adofski. — A Japanese travelling trunk, or valise. 

Uas. — Japanese for a bridge, as Jodo bas^ bridge over the river Jodo *, Nipon 60 s, bridge of 
Japan. 

Bikuni. — An order of begging nuns. 

Bonzes. — A Chinese term, applied to Buddhist priests. _ 

Bujio, Bunyo, Banyo. — An officer or deputy, representing the Kubo, and deriving ms 
commission from him. 

Daimio. — Prince of the highest rank. 

Dai bods. — Great Buddha (dai signifies great), the name of a colossal image of Buddha, 
near Miako. 

JJo/ri, otherwise Mikado. —The hereditary emperor of Japan, but superseded, as to actual 
power, by the Kubo. 

Djoqun. — See Siogun. 

Dosiu, or Doosen. — Soldiers in the immediate service of the Kubo, or Siogun. 

Dono. — A particle appended to names of persons, with much the force of our Mr. 

Feiji, or Feke. — The name of a family celebrated in the legendary annals of Japan. 
Fira-kana, or Hira-kana. — Easy, or woman’s writing, syllabary for writing Japanese in 
common use. See p. 546. . 

Gau’ffl, river, as Jodo ffawa, Jodo river. As most Japanese towns are seated on riveis, this 
word, gawa, forms the ending of many names of towns. . ... * 

Gan ting or Goka, otherwise, according to Siebold, Syo. — A dry measure, the sixteenth part 
of a cubic Japanese foot, holding about three English ale pints. Half a syo or ganting of 
rice is reckoned by the Japanese a sufficient daily allowance for a man. See pp. 185. 
Gobanjosi. — Government overseeing officers. The Japanese officers employed at Desima 
to Inspect the Dutch and their trade. • - mi 

Gokei. —Long strips of white paper, emblems of the divine presence of the Kami, iliese 
symbols are found in all Japanese houses, kept in little portable mias. 

Hara knri. — Suicide by cutting one’s self open. 

Itsibo^ or Itsibu. — A quarter (itsi, one ; si, four *, bo, or bu, part), a coin, the fourth pait 
of a kobang. 

I fay. — Tablets commemorative of the dead. 

iko siu (siu means sect, or observance).—The sect or observance of the worshippers of 
Amida, the most numerous and powerful ecclesiastical body in Japan. 

Joriki. — An inferior order of military nobles. , . • r 

Jama, or Yama. — k mountain, as Fusi-no-Fomo, mountain of Fusi, no bemg the sign of 
the possessive or genitive case. v ir » 

Jamabo, or Yamabo. — MounUin priests, an order of devotees, half Buddhist and half of 

the ancient Japanese creed. 

Kamban^. — Public sale of Dutch goods, held at Desima. 

Kami. —A god, or spirit. The national gods of Japan. The corresponding Chinese-Jap- 
anese term is Sin. Kami is also employed as a title of honor. See p. 551. ^ 

Kamisimo. — A garment of ceremony, worn on festivals and other solemn occasions. It 
consists of two parts, a short cloak, without sleeves, called katageno, and breeches like a 
petticoat sewed up between the legs, called vakama. 

Kappa. — A cloak of oiled paper —a Japanese term borrowed from the Portuguese. 
Kandavin, or Candarin. — The tenth part of a mas, equal to 5.83 grains troy. 

ATanr/o.-A close litter, or chair, borne on men’s shoulders. . . , , 

Kas or Cos. _The tenth part of a kandarin, or hundredth of a mas, near six tenths of a grain 

troy. The same term, frequently written cash, and sometimes, in the' plural, casses, is 
applied to coins of copper and iron, current in China, Japan, and Eastern Asia gen¬ 
erally, intended to represent the value of a kas of silver. The corresponding Japanese 



XII 


GLOSSARY. 


term is sent. The Dutch call them pitjes. As the dollar contains about seventy-one kan- 
darins of silver, it should repi’esent upwards of seven hundred of these kas. 

Kata-kana, man's writing. A syllabary employed for e.xplanations of Chinese characters. 
See p. 546. 

Kati, or Catty. — A weight of sixteen tael, or a hundred and sixty mas, equal to about a 
pound and a third avoirdupois, the common weight in retail tr'diisactions throughout 
the far East. 

jRTen, or Kin. — A measui'e of length, containing six Japanese feet (siak, or satii)^ or, accord¬ 
ing to Siebold, six siak, three bun (the bun being the tenth of the siak). Klaproth 
makes it equal to seven feet, four and one half inches, Rhineland measure ; but Siebold 
states the Japanese sya^’as equal to eleven inches eleven lines, English measure, and 
Kampfer always speaks of the ken as a fathom, or six feet. 

Kitu, or Kitoo. — Homage, or reverence, performed by one person to another. 

Kobang, or (properly) Koban. — A gold coin. For its weight and value see p. 55, 209, 383. 

Kobu, kosi, or nosi. — A sort of edible sea-weed {Fucus saccharinus), strips of which are 
attached to presents and complimentary notes. 

Kokf, ov Koku. — A quantity of rice, equal to one hundred gantlings, or somewhat more 
than four and a half bushels. The integer for estimating landed revenues. See p. 54,197. 

Kokonots. —The sixth Japanese hour, closing at noon and midnight. For the Japanese 
division of the day, see p. 266, note. It appears, from Siebold, that the names given to 
the six Japanese hours, kokonots, yats, nanats, muts, itsuts, and yois, are the vernac¬ 
ular Japanese numerals for nine, eight, seven, six, five, and four, the number of strokes 
on a bell by which these hours are respectively indicated. For ordinary use, and espe¬ 
cially in speaking of weights and measures, and always for numbers above ten, tlie Jap¬ 
anese employ the Chinese numerals. 

Kubo, or Kubo-Sama. — General, or lord general, originally the fifth officer in rank in the 
household of the Dairi, but for several centuries past the real, reigning emperor of Japan. 

Huge. — The family and courtiers of the Dairi. 

Kuli. — Ordinary day laborers. 

Li, or Ri. — A mile, or league (six times that of the Chinese), of which there are twenty-five 
to a degree of latitude, equal to upwards of two and a half of our miles. 

Mas. — The tenth part of a tael, equal to about fifty-eight gi’ains troy. 

Mia. — Temples for the worship of the Kami. 

Matz. — A street; also a measure of length, otherwise tsiju, equal to 60 ken, or 360 feet. 

Matsuri. — Religious shows and exhibitions. 

N'amada. — A short prayer in Sanscrit, the pater noster of the worshippers of Amida. 

Nengo. — A period of time used in dating. See p. 35. 

Norimon. — A superior kind of kango. 

Ottona. — The superior officer of a street. 

OJfari. — Indulgence box, a sort of charm, purchased of the priests. 

Picul. — One hundred katti, or one hundred and thirty-three and a third pounds avoiidu- 
pois. The common weight in the far East for heavy articles and wholesale transactions. 

Q^uanwon. — A Buddhist saint, represented by a many-handed image, and much worshipped 
in Japan. 

Quan. — A hearse. 

Saki. — An intoxicating drink, a sort of beer, made from rice. 

Sama. — Lord, appended to names and titles, with much the force of the French Monsieur, 
or our Mr. 

Seni. — See Kas. 

ISeomio. — Princes of the second class. 

SiaJca. —The Japanese equivalent of Buddha, or Fo. See p. 65, note. 

Sima. — Island, a common termination of Japanese names of places. 

Siogun. — The Chinese-Japanese term corresponding to kubo. 

Sinto. — Doctrine of the Sin, or Kami, the ancient and aboriginal religion of Japan. 

Siudo. — The doctrine of Confucius, as received in Japan. 

Sokano. — Eatables offered to visitors by way of refreshment. 

Shuet.—Nume given by the Dutch to circulating lumps of silver, stamped at the mint to 
certify their fineness, but passing by weight, which averages about five ounces. 

Tael. — A weight used in the far East equal to five hundred and eighty-three troy grains, or 
about an ounce and a fifth troy, or an ounce and a third avoirdupois. Sixteen tael make 
a katti. The tael and its subdivisions — the mas, kandarin, and kas — are especially used 
in weighing the precious metals. Silver passing by weight in the far East, and forming 
there the standard of value, accounts are kept in these denominations. The tael was 
commonly-reckoned by the Dutch as corresponding to the European crown ($1.25), which 
made the mas equal to the Spanish eighth of a dollar. 

Tira. — A Buddhist temple. 

Tono. — A general term, including all the Japanese nobility. 

Tsitats.—The first day of the mouth, observed as a holiday or Sunday. See p. 536. 

Tundi. — A Buddhist abbot. 

Tenwo, or Teno. — August of heaven, a title bestowed on the Dairi. 

Uta. — A brief poem, or distich. 






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HISTORY OF JAPAN. 


CHAPTER I. 


EARLIEST EUROPEAN KNOWLEDGE OF JAPAN. — JAPANESE HISTORIES. — MARCO 

polo’s account of the MONGOL OR TARTAR INVASION. -ACCOUNTS OF 

« THE SAME EVENT GIVEN BY THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE ANNALISTS, A. D. 
12S1 OR 1263. 

The name Japan, pronounced in the country itself Nipon or 
Nifon, is of Chinese origin — in the Mandarin dialect Jih-yun^ 
that is, sun-source, or Eastern Country. 

The first account of Japan, or allu.sion to its existence, to be 
found in any European writer, is contained in the Oriental Travels 
of the A^enetian, Marco Polo, first reduced to writing in the Latin 
tongue, about a. d. 1298, while the author was detained a prisoner 
of war at Genoa. Zipangu, Zipangri, Cyampagu, Cimpagu, as dif- 
erent editions of his work have it, is his method of representing 
the Chinese Jih-pun-quo, sun-source kingdom, or kingdom of 
the source of the sun. The Japanese chronicles go back for many^ 
centuries previous; but these chronicles seem to be little more 
than a bare list of names and dates, with some legendary statements 
interwoven, of which the authority does not appear very weighty, 
nor the historical value very considerable. 

IMarco Polo resided for seventeen years (a. d. 1275—1292) at 
the court of Kublai Khan (grandson of the celebrated Ghingis 
Khan), and ruler, from a. d. 1260 to a. d. 1294, over the most 
extensive empire which the world has ever seen. This empire 
stretched across the breadth of the old continent, from the Japanese, 
o 



14 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1281—1283. 


the Yellow, the Blue and the China Seas (embosoming the Caspian 
and the Black Seas), to the Levant, the Archipelago, the River 
Dniester, and beyond it. Not content with having added Anatolia 
and Russia to the western extremity of this vast kingdom, — the 
Greek empire being reduced, at this moment, to the vicinage of 
Constantinople and the western coasts of the Archipelago, — Kublai 
Khan, after completing the conquest of Southern China, sent an 
expedition against Japan; in which, however, the Mongols were no 
more successful than they had been in their attempts, a few years 
before, to penetrate through Hungary and Poland (which they 
overran and ravaged, to the terror of all Europe) into Germany, 
whence Teutonic valor repelled them. 

The accounts given by Marco Polo, and by the Chinese and 
Japanese annalists, of this expedition, though somewhat contradic¬ 
tory as to the details, agree well enough as to the general result. 
As Marco Polo’s account is short, as well as curious, we insert it at 
length, from the English translation of his travels by Marsden, 
subjoining to it the statements which we have of the same event 
derived from Chinese and Japanese sources. We may add that 
Columbus was greatly stimulated to undertake his western voyages 
of discovery by the constant study of Marco Polo’s travels, confi¬ 
dently expecting to reach by that route the Cathay and Zipangu 
of that author — comitries for which he sedulously inquired through¬ 
out the Archipelago of the West Indies, and along the southern 
and western shores of the Caribbean Sea. 

“ Zipangu,” says Marco Polo, “ is an island in the eastern ocean, 
situated at the distance of about fifteen hundred miles from the 
main land, or coast of Manji.* It is of considerable size; its inhab¬ 
itants have fair complexions, are well made^ and are civilized in 
their manners. Their religion is the worship of idols. They are 
independent of every foreign power, and governed only by their 
own kings. They have gold in the greatest abundance, its sources 
being inexhaustible; but as the king does not allow of its being 
exported, few merchants visit the country, nor is it frequented by 
much shipping from other parts. To this circumstance we are to 

* The true distance is about five hundred miles ; but, possibly, by miles 
Marco Polo may have intended Chinese /i, of which there are nearly three in 
our mile. 



MARCO polo’s account OP IT. 


15 


attribute the extraordinary richness of the sovereign’s palace, accord¬ 
ing to what we are told by those who have access to the place. 
The entire roof is covered with a plating of gold, in the same 
manner as we cover houses, or, more properly, churches, with lead. 
The ceilings of the halls are of the same precious metal; many of 
the apartments have small tables of pure gold, considerably thick; 
and the windows, also, have golden ornaments. So vast, indeed, 
are the riches of the palace, that it is impossible to convey an idea 
of them. In this island there are pearls, also, in large quantities, 
of a pink color, round in shape, and of great size, equal in value 
to white pearls, or even exceeding them. It is customary with one 
part of the inhabitants to bury their dead, and with another part 
to burn them. The former have a practice of putting one of these 
pearls into the mouth of the corpse. There are also found there a 
number of precious stones. 

“ Of so great celebrity was the wealth of this island, that a desire 
, was excited in the breast of the grand Khan Kublai, now reigning, 
to make the conquest of it, and to annex it to his dominions. In 
order to effect this, he fitted out a numerous fleet, and embarked a 
large body of troops under the command of two of his principal 
officers, one of whom was named Abbacatan, and the other Vonsan- 
cin. The expedition sailed from the ports of Zaitun and Kinsai^ 
and crossing the intermediate sea, reached the island in safety; but, 
in consequence of a jealousy that arose between the two command¬ 
ers, one of whom treated the plans of the other with contempt, and 
resisted the execution of his orders, they were unable to gain pos¬ 
session of any city or fortified place, with the exception of one only, 
which was carried by assault, the garrison having refused to sur¬ 
render. Directions were given for putting the whole to the sword, 
and, in obedience thereto, the heads of all were cut off except of 
eight persons, who, by the efficacy of a diabolical charm, consisting 

* Marsclen, the English translator and annotator of Marco Polo, supposes 
that Zaitun was the modern Amoyt and Kinsai either JVing^po or Chusan. 
The Chinese annalists, on the other hand, seem to make the expedition start 
from Corea, which is much more probable, as that province is separated from 
Japan by a strait of only about a hundred miles in breadth. It was by this 
Coi-ean strait, that, three hundred years later, the Japanese retorted this 
invasion. 



16 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1281—1283. 


of a jewel or amulet introduced into the right arm, between the skin 
and the flesh, were rendered secure from the effects of iron either to 
kill or to wound. Upon this discovery being made, they were 
beaten with a heavy wooden club, and presently died. 

“ It happened, after some time, that a north wind began to blow 
with great force, and the ships of the Tartars, which lay near the 
shore of the island, were driven foul of each other. It was deter¬ 
mined thereupon, in a council of the officers on board, that they 
ought to disengage themselves from the land; and accordingly, as 
soon as the troops were disembarked, they stood out to sea. The 
gale, however, increased to so violent a degree, that a number of 
the vessels foundered. The people belonging to them, by floating 
upon pieces of the wreck, saved themselves upon an island, about 
four miles from the coast of Zipangu. The other ships, which, not 
being so near to the land, did not suffer from the storm, and on 
which the two chiefs were embarked, together with the principal 
officers, or those whose rank entitled them to command an hundred 
thousand or ten thousand men, directed their course homeward, and 
returned to the grand Khan. Those of the Tartars who remained 
upon the island where they were wrecked, and who amounted to 
about thirty thousand men, flnding themselves without shipping, 
abandoned by their leaders, and having neither arms nor provision, 
expected nothing less than to become captives or to perish; especially 
as the Island afforded no habitations where they could take shelter 
and refresh themselves. As soon as the gale ceased, and the sea 
became smooth and calm, the people from the main island of Zi¬ 
pangu came over with a large force, in numerous boats, in order to 
make prisoners of these shipwrecked Tartars ; and, having landed, 
proceeded in search of them, but in a straggling, disorderly man¬ 
ner. The Tartars, on their part, acted with prudent circumspec¬ 
tion ; and, being concealed from view by' some high land in the 
centre of the island, whilst the enemy were hurrying in pursuit of 
them by one road, made a circuit of the coast by another, which 
brought them to the place where the fleet of boats was at anchor. 
Finding these all abandoned, but with their colors flying, they 
instantly seized them ; and, pushing off from the island, stood for 
the principal city of Zipangu, into which, from the appearance of 
the colors, they were suffered to enter unmolested. Here they 



MONGOL INVASION. 


17 


found few of the inhabitants besides women, whom they retained * 
for their own use, and drove out all others. When the king was 
apprised of what had taken place, he was much afflicted, and imme¬ 
diately gave directions for a strict blockade of the city, which was 
so effectual that not any person was suffered to enter or to escape 
from it during six months that the siege continued. At the expi¬ 
ration of this time, the Tartars, despairing of succor, surrendered 
upon the condition of their lives being spared. This event took 
place in the course of the year 1264.” * 

The above account Marco Polo no doubt derived from the Mon¬ 
gols, who endeavored, as far as possible, to gloss over with roman¬ 
tic and improbable incidents a repulse that could not be denied. 
The Chinese annalists, who have no partiality for their Mongol 
conquerors, tell a much less flattering story. According to their 
account, as given by Pere Amiot, in his Memoires ccmcernant les 
Chinois^ the fleet consisted of six hundred ships, fitted out in the 
provinces of Kiang-nan, Fou-kien, Ho-nan and Chan-tong. The 
army, sailing from Corea, landed first on the island of Kiu-tchi, 
whence they proceeded to that of Tousima, where they learned that 
the Japanese had long been expecting them with a great army. 
On approaching the coast of Japan, they encountered a furious 
tempest, which sunk their vessels; so that of the whole army scarcely 
one or two in every ten persons escaped. 

In the Histoire General de la China, compiled by Father 
Malela, from Chinese sources, the story is thus told : “ The sixth 
month (1281) Alahan set out on the expedition against Japan; 
but scarcely had he reached the port of embarkation when he died. 
Atahai, appointed to succeed him, did not arrive till the fleet had 
already set sail. In the latitude of the isle of Pinghou [Firando] it 

* Marsden remarks upon this date as evidently wrong. Indeed, it is given 
quite differently in different early editions of the travels. Marsden thinks it 
should be 1281. That is the date assigned to the invasion by the Chinese 
books. The older Japanese annals place it in 1584. In the chapter of 
Marco Polo which follows the one above quoted, and which is mainly devoted 
to the islands of south-eastern Asia, he seems to ascribe to the Japanese the 
custom of eating their prisoners of war — a mistake which, as his English 
translator and commentator observes, might easily arise from transferring to 
them what he had heard of the savage inhabitants of some of the more 
southern islands. 

2 ^ 



18 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1281—1283. 


encountered a violent tempest, by which most of the vessels were 
driven on shore. The officers, selecting those least damaged, them¬ 
selves returned, leaving behind them in that island more than a 
hundred thousand men. The soldiers, finding themselves thus aban¬ 
doned, chose a leader, and set themselves to work to cut down trees 
to build new vessels, in which to escape. But the Japanese, ap¬ 
prised of their shipwreck, made a descent upon the island with a 
powerful army, and put them to the sword. They spared only ten 
or tAvelve thousand Chinese soldiers, of whom they made slaves; 
and, of the whole formidable invading army, hardly three persons 
returned to China.” 

Father Gaubil, in his Histoire de la Dynastie des Mongeux, 
compiled also from Chinese sources, states the number of Chinese 
and Corean prisoners at eighty thousand, and of the Mongols who 
were slain at thirty thousand. 

Kiimpfer, in his elaborate work on Japan, gives the following 
as from the Japanese chronicles, JSipon Odaiki, and JSipon Okaitzu: 
“ Gonda succeeded his father in the year of Syn-mu 1935, of 
Christ 11^75.” “In the ninth year of his reign, the Tartar gen¬ 
eral, Mooko, appeared on the coasts of Japan, with a fleet of four 
thousand sail, and two hundred and forty thousand men. Tlie 
then reigning Tartarian emperor, Lifsu [Kublai Khan], after he had 
conquered the empire of China, sent this general to subdue also the 
empire of Japan. But this expedition proved unsuccessful. The 
Kami, that is, the gods of the country, and protectors of the Jap¬ 
anese empire, were so incensed at the insult offered them by the 
Tartars, that^ on the first day of the seventh month, they excited a 
violent and dreadful storm, which destroyed all this reputed invin¬ 
cible armada. Mooko himself perished in the waves, and but few 
of his men escaped.” 

Siebold, in his recently published Archives of Japan, gives the 
following as the account of this invasion contained in the esteemed 
Japanese chronicle, iVzpoTiArz“So soon as Kublai Khan had 
ascended the Mogul throne, he turned his eyes upon distant Japan. 
This nation, like Kami-le (one of the kingdoms of Corea), must 

* As this clironicle, which is the oldest Japanese history, is stated to have 
been originally published a. d. 720, it must be from a continuation of it that 
Siebold, or rather his assistant, Hoffman, translates. 



MONGOL INVASION. 


19 


become tributary. Accordingly, in the year 1268,* he summoned 
the ruler of Nipon to acknowledge his sovereignty. No notice was 
taken of this summons, nor of others in 1271 and 1273, the Mogul 
envoys being not admitted to an audience, but always dismissed by 
the governor of Doisaifu. Hereupon a Mongol fleet, with a Corean 
contingent, appeared off Tsusima [a small island half way from 
Corea to Japan]. The mikaddo [ecclesiastical sovereign] appointed 
prayer days, but the siogun [the temporal sovereign] had previ¬ 
ously made along the coast every necessary preparation for defence. 
The hostile army did not venture upon a decisive attack. Its 
movements were governed neither by energy nor by consistency; 
and after hovering about a while, without any apparent definite pur¬ 
pose, the squadron disappeared from the Japanese seas, merely 
committing some hostilities upon Kiusiu, at its departure.” 

A Japanese encyclopedia, of quite recent date, quoted in Siebold’s 
work, besides giving Kublai Khan’s letter of summons, asserts that 
* the jMongol fleet was met and defeated, after which, other Mongol 
envoys being sent to Japan, they were summoned into the presence 
of the siogun, by whom a decree was promulgated that no Mongol 
should land in Japan under pain of death. And it is even pre¬ 
tended that under this decree the persons composing two subsequent 
missions sent by Kublai Khan, in 1276 and 1279, were all put to 
death. This was followed, according to the same authority, by the 
appearance of a new Mongol-Corean fleet, in 1281, off the island 
of Firando. This fleet was destroyed by a hurricane. Those who 
escaped to the shore were taken prisoners and executed, only three 
being saved to carry to Kublai Khan the news of this disaster. 
All these additions, however, to the story, — the letter of Kublai 
Khan, the murder of the ambassadors, and the double invasion, — 
may safely enough be set down as Japanese inventions. 

* This is the equivalent, it is to be supposed, of the Japanese date men¬ 
tioned in the chronicle. 



va. 


CHAPTER II. 


PORTUGUESE EMPIRE IN THE EAST.-DISCOVERT OF JAPAN. GALVANO^S 

ACCOUNT OF IT.-FERNAM MENDEZ PINTO’S ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRST VISIT 

TO JAPAN, AND ADVENTURES THERE. -JAPANESE ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST 

ARRIVAL OF PORTUGUESE, A. D. 1542—5. 

Vasco de Gama, by the route of the Cape of Good Hope, entered 
the Indian Ocean in November, 1497, and, after coasting the African 
continent as far north as Melinda, arrived in May, 1498, at Calicut, 
on the Malabar or south-western coast of the peninsula of Hindostan, 
— a discovery speedily followed, on the part of the Portuguese, by 
extensive eastern explorations, mercantile enterprises and conquests. 
The trade of Europe with the East in silks, spices and other luxu¬ 
ries, chiefly carried on for two or three centuries preceding, so far 
as related to their distribution through Europe, by the Venetians, 
aided in the north by the Hanse towns, and, so far as the collec¬ 
tion of the articles of it throughout the East was concerned, by the 
Arabs (Cairo, in Egypt, being the point of exchange), was soon 
transferred to the Portuguese; and Lisbon, enriched by this transfer, 
which the Mahometan traders and the Venetians struggled in 
vain to prevent, rose rapidly, amid the decline of numerous rivals, 
to great commercial wealth and prosperity, and the headship of 
European commerce. 

The Portuguese, from the netessity of the case, traded sword in 
hand ; and their intercoui’se with the nations of the East was much 
more marked by the insolence of conquest, than by the complaisance 
of traders. Goa, some three hundred miles to the north of Calicut, 
which fell into their power in 1510, became a splendid city, the 
vice-royal and archiepiscopal seat, whence were governed a multi¬ 
tude of wide-spread dependencies. The rule of the Portuguese 
viceroy extended on the west by Diu, Ormus and Socotra (com- 


DISCOVERY BY TUE PORTUGUESE. 


21 


manding the entrances into the Gulf of Cambay, the Persian Gulf 
and the Red Sea), along the east coast of Africa by Melinda to 
Sofala, opposite the south part of Madagascar. Malacca, near the 
extremity of the peninsula of Further India, occupied in 1511, be¬ 
came the capital of their possessions and conquests in the far 
East, and soon rose into a magnificent seat of empire and commerce, 
second only to Goa. Among the most valuable dependencies of Ma¬ 
lacca, were the Moluccas or Spice Islands. The islands of Suma¬ 
tra, Java and Borneo,—in the occupation of which the Mahometans 
had preceded them,—Celebes, Mindanao, and even New Guin¬ 
ea, were coasted, and commercial and political relations established, 
to a greater or less degree, with the native chiefs. The coasts of 
Pegu, Siam, Cambodia, and the southern parts of China, were visited 
as early as 1516 ; but the usual insolence of the Portuguese, in 
attempting to establish a fortified post not far from Canton, resulted 
in the imprisonment and miserable death of an ambassador of theirs, 

* then on his way to Pekin, while it gave a new impulse to the suspi¬ 
cious policy of the Chinese, which allowed no intercourse with for¬ 
eigners, and even forbade the Chinese junks to trade to foreign 
ports. In spite, however, of this prohibition, numerous Chinese 
merchants, self-exiled from home, were established in the princi¬ 
pal trading marts of the south-eastern seas; and with their aid, and 
sometimes that of the corsairs, by whom the coasts of China were 
then, as now, greatly infested, and by bribing the mandarins, a sort 
of commerce, a cross between smuggling and privateering, was carried 
on along the Chinese coast. The principal marts of this commerce 
were Ningpo (known to the Portuguese as Liampo, on the continent, 
opposite the isle of Chusan, in the subui-bs of which city the 
Portuguese managed to establish a trading settlement) and Sancian, 
an island near the entrance of the bay of Canton, where the Chinese 
merchants from Canton met the Portuguese traders, who, during a 
few months in each year, sojourned there in temporary huts while 
the trade was going on. Down, however, to the year 1542, noth¬ 
ing had yet been heard of Japan, beyond Marco Polo’s mention and 
brief account of it. 

The first visit of the Portuguese to Japan is ascribed to that 
year, 1542, by Antonio Galvano, in his little book, first published, 
after his death, in 1557, containing a brief chronological recital 



22 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1545. 


of discoveries by sea and land, from the flood to the year of 
grace, 1555, particularly the recent ones of the Spanish and Por¬ 
tuguese, in which Gralvano had been an active participator, having 
greatly distinguished himself as the Portuguese governor of the 
Moluccas. With a disinterestedness as uncommon then as now, 
more intent upon the public service than his own enrichment, after 
repeatedly refusing the regency of the Moluccas tendered to him by 
the natives, and putting into the public treasury the rich presents 
of spices which were made to him, he had returned to Portugal, in 
1440, a poor man ; and so vain was his reliance on the gratitude 
of the court, that he was obliged to pass the last seventeen years of 
his life as the inmate of a charitable foundation, solacing his leis¬ 
ure by composing the history of exploits in which he no longer par¬ 
ticipated. His account of the discovery of Japan, which he must 
have obtained at second hand, as it happened after he had left the 
Indies, is thus given in Hackluyt’s translation : * 

“ In the year of our Lord 1542, one Diego de Freitas being in 
the realm of Siam, and in the city of Dodra, as captain of a ship, 
there fled from him three Portuguese in a junco (which is a kind of 
ship) towards China. Their names were Antony de Moto, Francis 
Zimoro and Antonio Perota. Directing their course to the city of 
Liampo, standing in 30° odd of latitude, there fell upon their 
stern such a storm, that it set them off the land; and in a few days 
they saw an island towards the east, standing in 32°, which they do 
name Japan, which seemeth to be the isle of Zipangry whereof 
Paulus Venetus [Marco Polo] maketh mention, and of the riches 
thereof. And this island of Japan hath gold, silver, and other 
riches.” 

Upon the strength of this statement of Galvano’s, Mafiei, in his 
elegant Latin Indian History^ first printed in 1589, and whom sub¬ 
sequent writers have generally followed, ascribes to the three Por¬ 
tuguese above mentioned the honor of the discovery of Japan, 
though it was claimed, he says, by several others. Of these others 

* Galvano’s book in the translation, published by Haekluyt, in 1601, may 
be found in the supplement to Hackluyt’s collection of voyages, London, 
1811. The original work was printed by the pious care of Francis de Sousa 
Tauares, to whom Galvano left it, on his death-bed. 




FEKNAM MENDEZ PINTO. 


23 


the only one known to us is Fernam Mendez Pinto, who, in his 
Peregrhiations in the East, first published in 1614, about thirty- 
six years after his death, seems to represent himself and two com¬ 
panions as the original Portuguese discoverers. 

Pinto’s veracity has been very sharply called in question ; * but 
the main facts of his residence in the East and early visits to Japan 
are amply established by contemporary letters, written from Malacca 
as early as 1564, and published at Home as early as 1566, includ¬ 
ing one from Pinto himself. In the introduction to his Peregrina¬ 
tions he describes himself as the child of poor parents, born in 
the city of old Montemayor, in Portugal, but placed in the year 
1521, when he was about ten or twelve years old, — he fixes the 
year by the breaking of the escutcheons on the death of king Man¬ 
uel, a cecemony which he witnessed, and the oldest historical fact 
he could remember, — through the interest of an uncle, in the ser¬ 
vice of a noble lady of Lisbon. Having been with her for a year 
and a half, some catastrophe occurred, — he does not tell what, — 
which led him to fly in terror for his life; and, finding himself upon 
a pier, he embarked on a vessel just about to leave it. That vessel 
was taken by French pirates, who threatened at first to sell him 
and the other captives to the Moors of Barbary ; but having taken 
another richer prize, after much ill treatment, they put him and 
several others ashore on the Portuguese coast. After this he passed 
into the service successively of two noblemen; but finding their 
pay very small, he was prompted to embark to seek his fortune in 
the East; and, in pursuit of that object, landed at Hiu in 1537. 

It was by the daring and enterprise of just such adventurers as 
Pinto, that the Portuguese, who, up to this time, had few regular 
troops in the East, had already acquired so extensive an empire 
there; just as a similar set of Spanish adventurers had acquired, 
and still were extending, a vast Spanish empire in America; the two 
nations, in their circuit round the globe, meeting at the Moluccas, 
the possession of which, though about this very time, as we shall 
see, contested by the Spaniards, the Portuguese succeeded in main¬ 
taining, as indeed they had been the fii*st to visit and occupy them. 

The Turks at this time were the terror and dread of all the 


See Appendix, Note D. 



24 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1512—1545. 


Christian nations. In the West, they had lately occupied Hungary, 
laid siege to Vienna, and possessed themselves of-all the fortresses 
hitherto held by the Venetians in the Archipelago and the Morea. 
Having acquired the superiority over Egypt by dethroning the 
Mameluke sultans, and, by the renunciation of the caliphs of Bag¬ 
dad (long exiles in Egypt), the headship of the Mahometan church, 
they were now carrying on, with renewed energy, by way of the 
lied Sea, the perpetual war waged in the East, as well as in the 
West, by the Mussulmen against the infidels; and had, indeed, just 
before Pinto’s arrival at Diu, besieged that city in great force. 
Going to cruise against these Mussulmen enemies, after various ad¬ 
ventures and a visit to Abyssinia, — with which secluded Christian 
or semi-Christian kingdom the Portuguese had opened a commu¬ 
nication, — Pinto was captured at the entrance of the lied Sea, 
carried to Mocha, and there sold to a Greek renegade, and by him 
to a Jew, from whom he was redeemed by the Portuguese governor 
of Ormus, who furnished him with the means of reaching Goa. At 
this centre of Portuguese enterprise and adventure, Pinto entered 
into the service of Horn Pedro de Faria, captain-general of Malacca. 
Perceiving his superior intelligence and adroitness, Faria sent him 
on numerous missions to the native princes of those parts, by inter¬ 
meddling in whose domestic affairs, the Portuguese generally con¬ 
trived to find a foothold for themselves. Despatched on one of 
these missions, he was shipwrecked, made a slave of, and sold to a 
Mussulman, who carried him to Malacca, whence he was again sent 
on a new mission, provided with money to redeem certain Portu¬ 
guese captives, and taking with him also a small sum, which he 
had borrowed at Malacca, to trade upon for himself. While occu¬ 
pied with this mission, Pinto met, at Patana (on the east shore of 
the Malay peninsula, and some four hundred miles to the north of 
Malacca), with Antonio Faria, a kinsman of his patron’s, sent 
thither on a political mission, but who had also im2)roved the 
opportunity for trade, by borrowing at Malacca twelve thousand 
crusados,* which he had invested in cloths. Finding no market 

* A Portuguese coin, as corresponding to wliich in value the Spanish 
translator of Pinto gives ducats, which, of silver, were about equal to a dollar 
of our money. 



FERNAM MENDEZ PINTO. 


25 


there for these goods, Faria was induced to despatch them to 
Lugor, on the same coast, further north ; and Pinto, with his small 
adventure, was led by the hope of a profitable trade to embark in 
the same vessel. He arrived safely near Lugor; but the ves¬ 
sel, while lying in the river below that city, was boarded by a 
Saracen corsair. Pinto with two others plunged into the water 
and escaped, wounded, to the shore; and having succeeded in 
reaching Patana, he communicated to Antonia de Faria informa¬ 
tion of their mutual loss. 

Overwhelmed by this news, and afraid to face his creditors at 
Malacca, Faria, with the remnant of his fortune and the assistance 
of his friends, fitted out a small cruiser, in which he embarked in 
May, 1640, with several Portuguese, and Pinto among the rest, 
nominally to seek out the pirate who had robbed him, but in fact 
to recruit his fortune as he might. After many adventures, — 
the acquisition of great wealth by numerous captures of richly- 
* laden corsairs and others, its loss by shipwreck, the getting of a 
new vessel, the meeting with the corsair who had robbed them at 
Lugor, the taking of his vessel, another shipwreck, and the sack of 
a Chinese town, where some of their shipwrecked companions were 
detained as prisoners,—they put into Liampo, finding on some 
islands at no great distance from that city, and known as the Hates 
of Liampo, a Portuguese settlement of a thousand houses, with six or 
seven churches, and with regular Portuguese ofiicers and laws — as 
much so, says Pinto, as if the place had been situated between Lis¬ 
bon and Santarem.* Here they met with a Chinese corsair, who 
told them a marvellous story of the island of Calempui, not far 
from Pekin, in which lay buried seventeen Chinese kings, and 
whose tombs, guarded and watched over by priests, contained vast 
treasures. Under the pilotage of this corsair, Faria set out in 
May, 1642, to rob these tombs. Pinto’s account of the voyage 
thither, and of the tombs themselves, from which, terrified by the 
alarm that was raised, they fled away, with their object very par¬ 
tially accomplished, forms one of the most questionable, and, at all 
events, the most distorted portions of his narrative. 

* This Portuguese colony was of no long continuance. It was soon broken 
up by the Chinese, as Pinto intimates, through the folly of the Portuguese 
resiilents. 


3 



26 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1545. 


Shortly after, they were shipwrecked again on the Chinese 
coast. Faria, with most of his countrymen, was drowned; but 
Pinto with thirteen others escaped to the shore, where they lived a 
while by begging, but were presently taken up as vagabonds, 
harshly treated, sent to Nankin, and there, on suspicion of being 
thieves, condemned to lose their thumbs. They appealed from this 
sentence by the aid of certain officers appointed to look after the 
poor, and were taken to Pekin, where, after a residence of two 
months and a half, the charge of theft was dismissed for want of proof, 
the prosecutors being obliged to pay them damages; but still they 
were sent into confinement to the frontier town of Quansi for eight 
months, there to work in the maintenance of the great wall. From 
this imprisonment they were delivered by an inroad of Tartars, who 
laid siege to Pekin, and to whom one of the Portuguese, reduced 
by this time to nine in all, rendered essential military service. Ac¬ 
companying these invaders back to Tartary, they were sent, except 
one, who remained behind, as attendants upon the train of an am¬ 
bassador to Cochin China, by whose procurement they were con¬ 
veyed to the island of Sanchian, in hopes of finding a passage 
thence to Malacca. But the Portuguese ships had departed five 
days before; and so they proceeded on some leagues further to the 
island of Lampacau (the same upon which the Portuguese town of 
Macao was not long afterwards built, and already a resort for mer¬ 
chants and rovers). Here they found no other resource except to 
enlist into the service of a Chinese corsair, who arrived shortly 
after they did, with two ships, of which the crews were mostly 
wounded, having just escaped, with the loss of many other ships, 
from a recent engagement with a Chinese fleet, off Chincheo, a 
great city, about half way from Canton to Ningpo. The Portu¬ 
guese had got into a quarrel among themselves, which they carried 
out, as Pinto says, with true Portuguese obstinacy. Five of them 
embarked in one of the corsair’s ships, and Pinto, with two com¬ 
panions, named Diego Zeimoto and Christopher Borello, in the other. 
The five, with the vessel in which they sailed, were soon after 
lost in a desperate naval engagement, which lasted a whole day, 
with seven large corsair junks, in which that vessel was burnt. 
The other, in which Pinto was, escaped with the, greatest difficulty, 
by favor of the breeze, which freshened at night. This breeze 





pinto’s first visit. 


27 


changed soon into a gale, before which the corsair ran for the Lew 
Chew islands, with which he was familiar; but being without a 
pilot, and the wind shifting to the north-east, they had to beat 
against it for twenty-three days before they made land. After run¬ 
ning along the coast for some distance they anchored off an island 
in seventy fathoms.^ “ Immediately,” says Pinto, “ two little skiffs 
put off the shore to meet us, in which were six men, who, on com¬ 
ing on board, after having saluted us courteously, asked us whence 
our junk came; and being answered that it came from China, with 
merchandise to trade there, if permission should be obtained, 
one of the six said to us that the Nantaquim, the lord of that 
island, which was called Tonixuma, would willingly permit us to 
trade, if we would pay the duties customarily paid in Japan; 
which, said he, is that great island which you see there over against 
us.” Whereupon the ship was piloted into a good harbor, on 
which was seated a considerable town, and was soon surrounded 
with boats bringing provisions to sell. 

In a short time they were visited by the Nantaquim himself, 
accompanied by many gentlemen and merchants, with chests of 
silver. As he approached the ship, the first persons who attracted 
his attention were Pinto and his companions. Perceiving how dif¬ 
ferent they were in complexion, features and beard, from the others, 
he eagerly inquired who they were. “ The corsair captain made 
answer to him,” says Pinto, “that we were from a land called 
Malacca, to w^hich many years before we had gone from another 
very distant country, called Portugal; at which the prince, greatly 
astonished, turning to those about him, said, ‘ May I die, if these 
be not the Chenchicogis, of whom it is written in our ancient books, 
that, flying on the tops of the waves, they will subdue all the lauds 
about them, until they become masters of all the countries in which 
God has placed the riches of the world! Wherefore we should 
esteem it a great piece of good fortune if they come to us with 

* It is difficult to understand by what mistake Charlevoix, in his His- 
toire du Japan, ascribes this discovery to the same year, 1542, as that of 
the three Japanese mentioned by Galvano. Pinto’s chronology is rather 
confused, but it is impossible to fix this voyage to Japan earlier than 
1546. 



28 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1642—1545. 


offers of friendship and good will.’ * And then calling in the aid 
of a woman of Lew Chew, whom he employed as interpreter, he pro¬ 
ceeded to make very particular inquiries of the captain as to where 
he had found these men, and why he had brought them thither. 
To whom,” says Pinto, “ our captain replied, that without doubt 
we were merchants and trusty people, whom, having, found ship¬ 
wrecked on the island of Lampucau, he had received on board his 
junk, as it was his custom to do by all whom he found in such 
ease, having himself been saved in the same way from the like dis¬ 
aster, to which all were liable who ventured their lives and prop¬ 
erty against the impetuous fury of the waves.” Satisfied with this 
answer, the prince came on board; not with his whole retinue, 
though they were all eager for it, but with only a select few. 
After examining the ship very curiously he seated himself under an 
awning, and asked the Portuguese many questions about their 
country, and what they had seen in their travels. Highly delighted 
with their answers and the new information they were able to give 
him, he invited them to visit him on shore the next day, assuring 
them that this curious information was the merchandise he most 
wished for, and of which he never could have enough. The next 
morning he sent to the junk a large boat loaded with grapes,! 
pears, melons, and a great variety of vegetables, for which the cap¬ 
tain returned a present of cloths and Chinese jewels. The next day, 
having first moored the ship securely, the captain went on shore 
with samples of his goods, taking with him the three Portuguese, 
and ten or twelve of the best-looking of the Chinese. Their recep¬ 
tion was very gracious, and the prince having called together the 

* The terms Chengecu and Chenghequu are represented in two letters, 
one dated in 1651 (Selectarum Epistolarum ex India, Lib. i.), addressed to 
Xavier by a companion of his ; the other, dated in 1560, and written by 
Lawrence, a converted Japanese and a Jesuit (76., Lib. ii.), as commonly em¬ 
ployed in Japan to designate Europe. 

Golownin mentions that at the time of his imprisonment (1812), he found a 
prophecy in circulation among the Japanese, that they should be conquered' 
by a people from the north. Possibly both these prophecies — that men¬ 
tioned by Pinto and that by Golownin — might be a little colored by the 
patriotic hopes of the European relaters. 

t Golownin says there are no grapes in Japan, except a small, wild kind, 
very sour, tvhich are salted and eaten as salad. 




pinto’s first visit. 


29 


principal merchants, the samples were exhibited, and a tariff of 
prices agreed upon. 

This matter arranged, the prince began to re-question the Portu¬ 
guese ; to which inquiries Pinto, who acted as spokesman, made 
answers dictated, as he confesses, less by strict regard to the truth, 
than by his desire to satisfy the prince’s appetite for wonders, and 
to magnify the king and country of Portugal in his eyes. The 
prince wished to know whether it were true, as the Chinese and 
Lew Chewans had told him, that Portugal was larger and richer 
than China ? Whether (a matter as to which he seemed very cer¬ 
tain) the king of Portugal had really conquered the greater part of 
the world ? And whether he actually had more than two thousand 
houses full of gold and silver? All which questions Pinto answered 
in the affirmative; though, as to the two thousand houses, he con¬ 
fessed that he had never actually counted them — a thing by no 
means easy in a kingdom so vast. 

Well pleased with his guests, the king caused the Portuguese to 
be entertained, by a wealthy merchant, in a house near his own; 
and he assigned also warehouses to the Chinese captain to facilitate 
his trade, which proved so successful that a cargo, which had cost 
him in China twenty-five hundred taels of silver, brought him in 
twelve times as much in Japan; thus reimbursing all the loss he 
had lately suffered by the capture of his vessels. 

“ Meanwhile we three Portuguese,” says Pinto, “ as we had no 
merchandise to occupy ourselves about, enjoyed our time in fishing, 
hunting and visiting the temples, where the priests or bonzes, as 
they are called, gave us a very good reception, the Japanese being 
naturally well disposed and very conversable. Deigo Zeimoto 
went often forth to shoot with an espingarda [a large hand-gim or 
musket], which he had brought from Tartary, and in the use of 
which he was very dexterous. One day, at a lake where were many 
kinds of birds, he killed at various shots six-and-twenty ducks. 

* A tael is about an ounce and a third English. The tael is divided into 
ten mas ; the mas into ten kandarins ; the kandarins into ten kas; and 
these denominations (the silver passing by weight) are in general use 
throughout the far East. Sixteen taels make a katty (about a pound and a 
third, avoirdupois), and one hundred katties a picul, — these being the mer¬ 
cantile weights in common use. 

3 * 



80 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1545. 


Some Japanese, observing this new method of shooting, which they 
had never seen before, reported it to the prince, who was busy 
at the moment in observing the running of some horses, which had 
been brought to him from a distance. Zeimoto, being called, came 
into his presence, with the gun on his shoulder, and two China¬ 
men loaded with the game; and as the thing was entirely novel in 
this country, and as the Japanese knew nothing of the secret of the 
powder, they all ascribed it to enchantment, — an astonishment 
which Zeimoto increased by shooting on the spot a kite and two 
doves. The prince caused Zeimoto to be mounted on a horse, him¬ 
self sitting behind him, and to be conducted through the town, fol¬ 
lowed by a great crowd, preceded by a herald, who proclaimed him an 
adopted kinsman of the prince, to be treated by all as such; and 
having taken him to his own palace, he assigned him an apartment 
there next his own, doing many favors also to the other Portuguese 
for his sake. Zeimoto responded by making the prince a present of 
the gun, who sent him, in return, a thousand taels of silver, beseeching 
him much to teach him how to make the powder; with which request 
Zeimoto complied. The prince, greatly delighted with his acquisition, 
caused other guns to be made like it; so that,” says Pinto, “ when 
we left, which was in five months and a half, there were more than 
six hundred; and when I visited Japan, in 1556, as ambassador 
from the Portuguese viceroy, Don Alonzo de Noronha,to the king 
of Bungo, the Japanese told me that in the city of Fucheo, the 
capital of that kingdom, there were more than thirty thousand gims. 
And when I expressed my astonishment at this as incredible, 
some very respectable merchants positively assured me that in the 
whole land of Japan there were more than three himdred thousand, 
and that they themselves, in six voyages to Lew Chew, had carried 
thither five-and-twenty thousand. From which it may be known 
what this nation is, and how naturally inclined to military exer¬ 
cises, in which it delights itself more than any other of these dis¬ 
tant nations yet discovered.” * 

At the end of three-and-twenty days, a ship arrived from the 
kingdom of Bungo, in which came many merchants, who, as soon 
as they had landed, waited on the prince with presents, as was cus¬ 
tomary. Among them was an old man, very well attended, and 
* See Appendix, Note C. 



pinto’s first visit. 


31 


to whom all the rest paid great respect. He made prostrations 
before the prince, presenting him a letter, and a rich sword, gar¬ 
nished with gold, and a box of fans, which the prince received 
with great ceremony. The reading of this letter seemed to disturb 
the prince, and, having sent the messengers away to refresh them¬ 
selves, he informed the Portuguese, through the interpreter, that it 
came from the king of Bungo and Facata, his uncle, father-in- 
law, and liege-lord, as he was also the superior of several other 
principalities. This letter, — which, as is usual with him in such 
cases, Pinto, by a marvellous stretch of memory, undertakes to give 
in precise words, — declared that the writer had heard by persons 
from Saxuma that the prince had in his city “ three Chenchiogins, 
from the end of the world, very like the Japanese, clothed in 
silk and girded with swords; not like merchants, whose business it 
is to trade, but like lovers of honor, seeking to gild their names 
therewith, and who had given great information, affirming, on their 
veracity, that there is another world, much larger than this of ours, 
and peopled with men of various complexions;” and the letter 
ended with begging that, by Fingeandono, his ambassador, the 
prince would send back one of these men, the king promising to 
return him safe and soon. It appeared from this letter, and from 
the explanations which the prince added to it, that the king of 
Bungo was a severe sufferer from a gouty affection and from fits of 
melancholy, from which he hoped, by the aid of these foreigners, to 
obtain some diversion, if not relief. The prince, anxious and 
bound as he was to oblige his relative and superior, was yet unwil¬ 
ling to send Zeimoto, his adopted kinsman; but one of the others he 
begged to consent to go; and when both volunteered, he chose 
Pinto, as he seemed the more gay and cheerful of the two, and so 
best fitted to divert the sick man’s melancholy; whereas the solemn 
gravity of the other, though of great account in more weighty mat¬ 
ters, might, in the case of a sick man, rather tend to increase his 
ennui. And so, with many compliments, to which, says Pinto, the 
Japanese are much inclined, he was given in charge to the ambas¬ 
sador, with many injunctions for his good treatment, having first, 
however, received two hundred taels, with which to equip himself. 

They departed in a sort of galley; and, stopping in various 
places, arrived in four or five days at Osqui, a fortress of the king of 



82 


JAPAN. —A. D. 1542—1545. 


Bungo,* seven leagues distant from his capital of Fucheo, to which 
they proceeded by land. Arriving there in the middle of the day 
(not a proper time to wait upon the king), the ambassador took him 
to his own house, where they were joyfully met, and Pinto was 
well entertained by the ambassador’s wife and two sons. Proceed¬ 
ing to the palace on horseback, they were very graciously received 
by a son of the king, some nine or ten years old, who came forth 
richly dressed and with many attendants. After many ceremonies 
between the young prince and the ambassador, they were taken to 
the king, who, though sick abed, received the ambassador with 
many formalities. Presently Pinto was introduced, and by some 
well-turned compliments made a favorable impression, leading the 
courtiers to conclude — and «o they told the king — that he could not 
be a merchant, who had passed his life in the low business of buy¬ 
ing and selling, but rather some learned bonze, or at least some brave 
corsair of the seas. In this opinion the king coincided; and, being 
already somewhat relieved from his pains, proceeded to question the 
stranger as to the cure of the gout, which he suffered from, or at least 
some remedy for the total want of appetite by which he was afflicted. 
Pinto professed himself no doctor, but nevertheless undertook to cure 
the king by means of a sovereign herb which he had brought with 

* The kingdom or province of Bungo is situated on the east coast of the 
second in size and southernmost in situation of the thi’ee larger Japanese 
islands, off the south-east exti'emity of which lies the small island of Tanix- 
uma (or Tanegasima), where Pinto represents himself as having first landed. 

The name Bungo was frequently extended by the Portuguese to the whole 
large island o^ which it formed a part, though, among them, the more com¬ 
mon designation of that island, after they knew it to be such (for they seem 
at first to have considered it a part of Nipon), was Ximo. This name, Ximo, 
appears to have been only a modification of the term suna (or, as the Portu¬ 
guese wrote it, xima),the Japanese word for island, and as such terminating 
many names of places. On our maps this island is called Kiusiu, meaning, 
as Kampfer tells us in one place, “Western Country,” and in another 
“ Country of Nine,” from the circumstance of its being divided into nine 
provinces, which latter appears to be the correct interpretation. There are 
in use in Japan Chinese as well as Japanese names of provinces and officers, 
(the Chinese probably a ti’anslation of the Japanese) ; and not only the 
names Nipon and Kiusiu, but that of Bungo (to judge from the terminal n 
of the first syllable), is of Chinese origin. For further information on the 
language of Japan, see Appendix A. 



pinto’s first visit. 


33 


him from China (ginseng, probably); and this drug he tried on the 
patient with such good effect, that in thirty days he was up and 
walking, which he had not done for two years before. The next 
twenty days Pinto passed in answering an infinite number of ques¬ 
tions, many of them very frivolous, put to him by the king and his 
courtiers, and in entertaining himself in observing their feasts, wor¬ 
ship, martial exercises, ships of war, fisheries and hunting, to which 
they were much given, and especially their fowling with hawks 
and falcons, quite after the European fashion. 

A gun, which Pinto had taken with him, excited as much curi¬ 
osity as it had done at Tanixuma, especially on the part of a second 
son of the king, named Arichandono,* about seventeen or eighteen 
years old, who was very pressing to be allowed to shoot it. This 
Pinto declined to permit, as being dangerous for a person without 
experience; but, at the intercession of the king, he appointed a time 
at which the experiment should be made. The young prince, how¬ 
ever, contrived beforehand to get possession of the gun while Pinto 
was asleep, and, having greatly overloaded it, it burst, severely 
wounding his hand and greatly disabling one of his thumbs. 
Hearing the explosion, and running out to see what might be the 
matter, Pinto found the young prince abandoned by his frightened 
companions, and lying on the ground bleeding and insensible; and 
by the crowd, who rushed in, he was immediately accused of having 
murdered the king’s son, hired to do so, as was suspected, by the 
relations of two noblemen executed the day before as traitors. His 
life seemed to be in the most imminent danger; he was so fright¬ 
ened as not to be able to speak, and so beside himself that if they 
had killed him he hardly thinks he would have known it; when, for¬ 
tunately, the young prince coming to, relieved him from all blame 
by telling how the accident had happened. The prince’s wounds, 
however, seemed so severe, that none of the bonzes called in dared to 
undertake the cure; and it was recommended, as a last resource, to 
send to Facata, seventy leagues off, for another bonze, of great 
reputation, and ninety-two years old. But the young prince, who 
declared that he should die while waiting, preferred to entrust him¬ 
self to the hands of Pinto, who, following the methods which he 


For some remarks on Japanese names of persons, see Appendix B. 



84 


JAPAN. — A. I). 1542—1545. 


had seen adopted by Portuguese surgeons in India, in twenty days 
had the young prince able to walk about again; for which he 
received so many presents that the cure was worth to him more than 
fifteen hundred cruzados. Information coming from Tanixuma that 
the Chinese corsair was ready to sail, Pinto was sent back by the 
king in a galley, manned by twenty rowers, commanded by a gen¬ 
tleman of the royal household, and provided with abundant sup¬ 
plies. 

The corsair having taken him on board, they sailed for Liampo, 
where they arrived in safety. The three survivors of Antonio de 
Faria’s ship were received at that Portuguese settlement with the 
greatest astonishment, and many congratulations for their return; 
and the discovery they had made of the rich lands of Japan was 
celebrated by a religious procession, high mass, and a sermon. 

These pious services over, all hastened with the greatest zeal and 
contention to get the start of the rest in fitting out ships for this 
new trafiic, the Chinese taking advantage of this rivalry, to put up 
the prices of their goods to the highest rates. In fifteen days nine 
junks, not half provided for the voyage, put to sea, Pinto himself 
being on board one of them. Overtaken on their passage by a ter¬ 
rible storm, seven of them foundered, with the loss of seven hun¬ 
dred men, of whom a hundred and forty were Portuguese, and 
cargoes to the value of three hundred thousand cruzados. Two 
others, on board one of which was Pinto, escaped, and arrived near 
the Lew Chew islands; where, in another storm, that in which Pinto 
was lost sight of the other, nor was it ever afterwards heard of. 
“ Towards evening,” says Pinto, “the wind coming east-north-east, 
the waves ran so boisterous, wild and high, that it was most fright¬ 
ful to see. Our captain, Gaspar de Melo, an hidalgo and very brave, 
seeing that the junk had sprung a-leak in her poop, and that the 
water stood already nine palms deep on the lower deck, ordered, 
with the advice of his ofiicers, to cut away both masts, as, with their 
weight and the rolling, the junk was opening very fast. Yet, in 
spite of all care, he could not prevent the mainmast from carryino^ 
away with it fourteen men, among whom were five Portuguese, 
crashed in the ruins, — a most mournful spectacle, which took away 
from us survivors all the little spirits we had left. So we suftered 
ourselves to be drifted along before the increasing tempest, which 



JAPANESE ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST EUROPEANS. 35 


WQ had no moans to resist, until about sunset, when the junk began 
to open at every seam. Then the captain and all of us, seeing the 
miserable condition in which we were, betook ourselves for succor 
to an image of our Lady, whom we besought with tears and groans 
to intercede for us with her blessed Son to forgive our sins.” 

The night having passed in this manner, about dawn the junk 
struck a shoal and went to pieces, most of the crew being drowned. 
A few, however, escaped to the shore of what proved to be the 
Lew Chew islands, now first made known to the Portuguese. Here 
happened many new dangers and adventures ; but at last, by female 
aid, always a great resource with Pinto, he found his way back in 
a Chinese junk to Liampo, whence, after various other adventures, 
he again reached Malacca. 

To these Portuguese accounts of the European discovery of 
Japan, may be added the following, which Siebold gives as an 
extract from a Japanese book of annals: “Under the Mikado 
Konaru, and the Ziogoun Yosi-hao, in the twelfth year of the Nengo 
Tinbun,*on the twenty-second day of the eighth month [Oct. 1543 ], 
a strange ship made the island Tanegozima, near Koura, in the 

* The Japanese date by the years of the reign of the Dairi, or Mikado (of 
whom more hereafter), and they also, for ordinary purposes, employ the 
Chinese device of nengos. These are periods, or eras, of arbitrary length, 
from one year to many, appointed at the pleasure of the reigning Dairi, 
named by him, and lasting till the establishment of a new nengo. For con¬ 
venience, every new nengo, and also every new reign, begins chronologically 
with the new j^ear, the old nengo and old reign being protracted to the end 
of the year in which it closes. 

The Japanese month is alternately twenty-nine and thirty days, of which 
every year has twelve, with a repetition of one of the months, in seven years 
out of every nineteen, so as to bi-ing this reckoning by lunar months into cor¬ 
respondency with the course of the earth round the sun; this method being 
based on a knowledge of the correspondency of two hundred and thirty-five 
lunations with nineteen solar years. According to Titsingh, every thirty- 
third month is repeated, so as to make up the necessary number of inter¬ 
calary months, the number of days in these intercalary months being fixed 
by the almanacs issued at Miako. The commencement of the Japanese year 
is generally in February. The months are divided into two distinct portions, 
of fifteen days, each having a distinct name, and the first day of each of which 
serves as a Sunday, or holiday. This regulation of the Japanese calendar is 
borrowed from the Chinese, as also the use of the period of sixty years corre¬ 
sponding to our century. 






36 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1445. 


remote province Nisimura.* The crew, about two hundred in num¬ 
ber, had a singular appearance ; their language was unintelligible, 
their native land unknown. On board was a Chinese, named Go- 
how, who understood writing. From him it was gathered, that 
this was a nan-ban (Japanese form of the Chinese 'nan-maji), that 
is, ‘southern barbarian’ ship. On the twenty-sixth, this vessel 
was taken to Aku-opi harbor, on the north-west side of the island, 
and Tokitaku, governor of Tanegozima, instituted a strict investiga¬ 
tion concerning her, the Japanese bonze, Tsyn-sigu-zu, acting as 
interj)reter by means of Chinese characters. On board the nan- 
ban ship were two commanders, Mura-synkya and Krista-muta. 
They had fire-arms, and first made the Japanese acquainted with 
shooting arms, and the preparation of shooting powder.” It is 
added that the Japanese have preserved portraits of these two dis¬ 
tinguished strangers; but, if so, it is much to be feared that the 
likenesses cannot be relied upon, as Fischer, one of the most recent 
writers on Japan, and who has himself published the finest speci¬ 
mens which have yet appeared of Japanese graphic art, says he 
never knew nor heard of a tolerable Japanese portrait-painter ,* 
while Golownin declares that the portraits taken of himself and his 
companions, prisoners on the island of Malsmai, in 1812, to be 
forwarded to Jedo, bore not the least resemblance to the originals.! 

* No such province is mentioned in the lists of Japanese provinces by father 
Rodriguez, Kampfer and Klaproth. 

t “ They wished to have our portraits taken at full length ; and Teske, 
who knew how to draw, was appointed to execute them. He drew them in 
India ink, but in such a style that each portrait would have passed for that 
of any other individual as well as of him it was intended for. Except the long 
beard, we could trace no resemblance in them. The Japanese, however, sent 
them to the capital, where they were probably hung up in some of their gal¬ 
leries of pictures.” — Golownin^s Captivity in Japan^ vol. i., ch. 4. 



CHAPTER III. 


pinto’s second visit to japan.-AN6IR0, OR PAUL OF THE HOLY FAITH. 

— A. D. 1547—1548. 

After a great variety of haps and mishaps in Pegu, Siam, J ava 
and elsewhere, Fernam Mendez Pinto represents himself as having 
embarked a second time for Japan, in a ship commanded by George 
Alvarez, which sailed from Malacca in the year 1547. In twenty- 
six days they made the island of Tanixuma, nine leagues south of 
the main land of Japan; and on the fifth day afterwards, reached 
Fucheo, in the kingdom of Bungo, a hundred leagues to the north. 
The king and the inhabitants gave them a very friendly reception ; 
but, very shortly after their arrival, a civil commotion broke out, 
in which the king was murdered with most of his family and a 
number of Portuguese who were in his service, the city being set 
on fire during the outbreak, and g;eat numbers killed on both 
sides. 

One of the king’s sons, who, when this event occurred, happened 
to be at the fortress of Osqui, seven leagues distance, would have 
proceeded at once to Fucheo, but for the advice of his tutor, Finge- 
indono, the same name, with the change of a single vowel, borne 
by the ambassador of the king of J^ungo, under whose guidance 
Pinto, according to his former narrative, had first visited Fucheo. 
This person advised the young prince first to collect a sufiicient 
army ; and of the Japanese method of calling to arms Pinto gives 
the following account. Every housekeeper, high and low, was 
required to keep by him a conch-shell, which, under severe penal¬ 
ties, could be sounded on four occasions only—tumults, fire, thieves 
and treason. To distinguish what the alarm was for, the shell was 
sounded once for tumult, twice for fire, three times for thieves, and 
four times for treason. So soon as the alarm of treason was 
4 


38 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1547—1548. 


sounded, every householder who heard it was obliged to repeat it. 
And upon the signal thus given, and which spread from house to 
house, and village to village, all were obliged to march armed to 
the spot whence it came, the whole population of the district being 
thus very soon collected. 

By this means, in the course of seven days, during three of which 
the young prince lamented his murdered relatives at a convent of 
bonzes in a grove near the city, after which he proceeded to confis¬ 
cate the estates of the rebels, Pinto collects for him an army, — 
he is generally pretty liberal in such matters, — estimated at one 
hundred and thirty thousand men, of whom seventeen thousand 
were cavalry. The multitude thus collected breeding a famine, 
the prince marched upon Fucheo, where he was received with great 
demonstrations of loyalty. But, before repairing to the palace, he 
stopped at the temple where the body of his father was lying, whose 
obsequies he celebrated with much pomp, the observance lasting 
through two nights, with a great display of torches and illumina¬ 
tions. The closing ceremony was the presentation to the son of 
the bloody garments of the father, on which he swore that he would 
show no mercy to the traitors, even though to save their lives they 
might turn bonzes; but that, rather than allow them to escape, he 
would destroy every convent or temple in which they might take 
refuge. 

On the fourth day, having been inaugurated as king, but with 
little pomp, he marched with a still increasing army against the 
rebels, who, to the number of ten thousand, had entrenched them¬ 
selves on a neighboring hill, where, being surrounded by the royal 
forces, rather than surrender, they were cut otf to a man. 

The city of Fucheo was left almost in ruins by this civil war; 
and the Portuguese, despairing of being able to find purchasers for 
their goods, proceeded to the city of Hyamonyoo, ninety leagues to 
the southward, on the bay of Cangoxima, where they remained for 
two months and a half, unable to sell their cargo, as the market 
was completely overstocked by Chinese merchandise, which had 
been poured in such quantities into the Japanese ports as to be 
worth much less than it was in China. Pinto and his company 
were entirely at a loss what to do ; but from this dilemma they 
were delivered, as Pinto will have it, by the special providence of 





THE JAPANESE — ANGIRO. 


89 


the Most High; for, at the new moon of December, a terrible storm 
occurred, in which almost the whole of these foreign traders were 
destroyed, to the incredible number, as Pinto relates, of near two 
thousand vessels, including twenty-six belonging to the Portuguese. 
Of the whole number, only ten or a dozen escaped, among them that 
in which Pinto was, which afterwards disposed of her lading to 
very good profit So they got ready to depart, well pleased to see 
themselves so rich, but sad at having made their gains at the 
cost of so many lives, both of countrymen and strangers. Three 
times, however, they were detained by accidents, the last time 
barely escaping — by the help of the Virgin Mary, as Pinto insists 
— being carried by the strong current upon a dangerous reef; 
Just at which moment they saw approaching the shore, in great 
haste, two men on horseback, making signs to them with a cloth. 
The preceding night four slaves, one of whom belonged to Pinto, 
had escaped from the vessel; and, thinking to receive some news of 
them, Pinto went in the boat with two companions. “ Coming to 
the shore,” he says, << where the two men on horseback awaited us, 
one of them, who seemed the principal person, said to me, ‘ Sir, as 
the haste I am in admits of no delay, being in great fear of some 
people who are in pursuit of me, I beg of you, for the love of God, 
that, without suggesting doubts or weighing inconveniences, you will 
receive me at once on board your ship.’ At which words of his, 
I was so much embarrassed,” says Pinto, “ as hardly to know what 
to do, and the more so, as I recollected having twice seen him in 
Hyamonyoo, in the company of some merchants of that city. Scarce¬ 
ly had I received him and his companion into the boat, when four¬ 
teen men on horseback made their appearance, approaching at full 
speed, and crying out to me, ‘ Give up that traitor, or we will kill 
you!’ Others soon after came up, both horsemen and on foot; 
whereupon I put off to the distance of a good bow-shot, and in¬ 
quired what they wanted. To which they made answer, ‘ If thou 
dost carry off that Japanese, know that a thousand heads, of fellows 
like thee, shall pay the forfeit of it.’ To all which,” says Pinto, 
“ I replied not a word, but, pulling to the ship, got on board with 
the two Japanese, who were well received, and provided by the 
captain and the other Portuguese with everything necessary for so 
long a voyage.” The name of this ftigitive was Angiro, “ an instru- 



40 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1547—1548. 


merit selected bj the Lord,” so Pinto piously observes, “ for his 
praise, and the exaltation of the holy faith.” 

In fourteen days, the ship reached Chincheo, but found the 
mouth of the river leading to it blockaded by a famous Chinese 
corsair, with a great fleet; to avoid whom they turned aside and 
sailed for Malacca. 

In this city Pinto met, apparently for the first time, with 
Master Francis Xavier, general superior or provincial of the order 
of the Jesuits in India, in all parts of which occupied by the 
Portuguese he had already attained a high reputation for self- 
devotion, sanctity, and miraculous power; and who was then at 
Malacca, on his return to Goa, from a mission on which he had 
lately been to the Moluccas. “ The father,” says Pinto, “ had 
received intelligence of our arrival, and that we had brought with 
us the Japanese Angiro. He came to visit George Alvarez and 
myself, in the house of one Cosmo Rodriguez, where we lodged, and 
passed almost a whole day with us in curious inquiries (all founded 
on his lively zeal for the honor of God) about the countries we had 
visited; in the course of which I told him, not knowing that he 
knew it already, that we had brought with us two Japanese, one 
of whom appeared to be a man of consideration, well skilled in the 
laws and religion of Japan. MJiereupon he expressed great desire 
to see him ; in consequence of which, we brought him to the hos¬ 
pital, where the father lodged, who received him gladly and took 
him to India, whither he was then on his way. Having arrived at 
Goa, Angiro there became a Christian, taking the name of Paulo 
de Santa Fe [Paul of the Holy Faith], and in a short time learnt 
to read and write Portuguese, and mastered the whole Christian 
doctrine; so that the flither only waited for the monsoon, to go to 
announce to the heathen of the isle of Japan, Christ, the Son of the 
living God, nailed to the cross for our sins (as he was accustomed 
to do), and to take this man with him as an interpreter, as he after¬ 
wards did, and his companion also, who, as well as himself, pro¬ 
fessed the Christian faith, and received from the father the name 
of John.” 




t 


CHAPTER IV. 

KELIG'iOUS faith three centuries ago. -ZEAL OF THE PORTUGUESE CON¬ 
QUERORS.-ANTONIO GALVANO.-MISSIONARY SEMINARIES AT TERNATE 

AND GOA. ORDER OF THE JESUITS. FRANCIS XAVIER. HIS MISSION 

TO INDIA. HIS MISSION TO JAPAN. HIS COMPANION, COSME DE TOR¬ 
RES. — THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. —A. D. 1542—1550. 

Three centuries ago the religious faith of Europe was much 
more energetic and active than at present. With all imaginative 
minds, even those of the highest order, the popular belief had, at 
that time, all the force of undoubted reality. Michael Angelo and 
Raphael embodied it in marble and colors; and it is difficult to’ say 
which impulse was the stronger with the Portuguese and Spanish 
adventurers of that age, — the fierce thirst for gold and glory, which 
they felt as we feel it now, or a passionate desire for the prop¬ 
agation of their religious faith, such indeed as is still talked about, 
and feebly exhibited in action, but in which the great bulk of the 
community, especially the more cultivated part of it, takes at present 
either no interest, or a very slight one. 

The Portuguese adventurers in the East, wherever they went, 
were accompanied by friars, mostly Franciscans, and the building 
of magnificent churches was one of the first things attended to. 

Of all these adventurers, few, if indeed a single one, have left so 
respectable a character as Antonio Galvano, already mentioned, 
governor of the Moluccas from 1536 to 1540, which islands, from 
a state of violent hostility to the Portuguese, and rebellion against 
them, he brought back to quiet and willing submission. Not less 
distinguished for piety than for valor and disinterestedness, Galvano 
made every efibrt to diffuse among the natives of the oriental 
archipelago a knowledge of the Catholic faith; and with that view 
he established at Ternate, seat of the Portuguese government of the 
4 * 


42 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1550. 


IMoluccas, a seminary for the education of boys of superior abilities, 
to be collected from various nations, who, upon arriving at matu¬ 
rity, might preach the gospel, each in his own country—an institu¬ 
tion which the Council of Trent not long after warmly approved. 

By the efforts of Galvano and others, a similar seminary, some¬ 
times called Paul’s, and sometimes Of the Holy Faith, had been 
erected at Goa, lately made the seat of an Indian bishopric, —and it 
was at this seminary, endowed and enriched by the spoils of many 
heathen temples, that the Japanese Angiro was placed by Xavier for 
his education. The names which he adopted at his baptism, Paul 
of the Holy Faith, were, as it thus appears, those of the seminary 
at which he had been educated. 

But the efforts hitherto made in India on behalf of the Catholic 
faith, if earnest, had been desultory. The establishment of the 
order of Jesuits, in 1540, laid the foundation for a systematic attack 
upon the religious systems of the East, and an attempt at a spirit¬ 
ual revolution there, neither less vigorous nor less pertinacious than 
that which, for the forty years preceding, had been carried on 
by the new comers from the West against the political, commercial 
and social institutions of those comitries. 

The leader in this enterprise was Francis Aspilcota, suniamed 
Xavier, one of the seven associates of whom the infant Society of 
Jesus, destined soon to become so powerful and so famous, origi¬ 
nally consisted. He was born in 1506, in Xavarre, at the foot of 
the Pyrenees, the youngest son of a noble and numerous family, 
of whom the younger members, and he among the rest, bore the 
surname of Xavier. Xot inclining to the profession of arms, em¬ 
braced by the rest of the family, after preliminary studies at home, 
he went to Paris, and was first a student at the College of St. Barbe, 
and afterwards, at the age of twenty-two, professor of philosophy in 
that of Beauvais. It was in this latter station that he first 
became acquainted with Igiiatius Loyola, who, fifteen years older 
than Xavier, had come to Paris to pursue, as preparatory to a 
course of theology, those rudimentary studies which had not been 
thought necessary for the military destination of his earlier days. 
This remarkable Spaniard, whose military career had been cut short 
by a wound, which made him a cripple, had already been for years 
a religious devotee; and having been from his youth thoroughly 




SOCIETY OF JESUS. 


43 


impregnated with the current ideas of romantic chivalry, he was 
already turning in his mind the formation of a new monastic order, 
which should carry into religion the spirit of the romances. Xa¬ 
vier, with whom he lived at Paris on intimate terms, — they slept, 
indeed, in the same bed, — was one of Loyola’s first disciples; and on 
the day of the Assmnption, August 16, 1534, they two, with five 
others, of whom three or four were still students, in a subterranean 
chapel of the church of the abbey of Montmartre, united at a cele¬ 
bration of mass by Le Fevre, who was already a priest, and in the 
consecration of themselves by a solemn vow to religious duties. 
This rudimentary order included, along with Loyola and Xavier, 
three other Spaniards, Lainez, Salmaron, and Boabdilla, Rodriguez, 
a Portuguese, and Le Fevre, a Savoyard, — all afterwards distin¬ 
guished. A mission to Jerusalem, which Loyola had already visited, 
was at that time their leading idea. 

Loyola then returned home, the others remaining at Paris; 
but with an agreement to meet at Venice before the close of 
the year 1536, at which meeting three more were added to their 
number. A scheme of the order was subsequently drawn up, 
which, besides the vows of chastity and poverty, and of absolute 
obedience, as to God, to a general of the order, to be elected for 
life, included, instead of the mission to Jerusalem, which the war 
with the Turks made impracticable, a vow to go wherever the Pope 
might send them for the salvation of souls. To procure the sanc¬ 
tion of the Pope, Loyola, with Lainez and Le Fevre, spent several 
years at Rome. His scheme, having been referred to a commission, 
was approved by Paul III., by a bull, bearing date September 
27th, 1640, in which the name of “ Clerks of the Society of Jesus ” 
was bestowed upon the order, which was limited, however, to sixty 
members. Loyola was elected, early in 1541, the first general; and 
by a subsequent bull of Julian III., dated March 15, 1543, the so¬ 
ciety was allowed to increase its members indefinitely. Its object 
was the maintenance of the absolute authority of the church 
as personified in the Pope, not only by resisting the rebellion 
against it, then lately set on foot by Luther in Germany, but 
by extending the domination of the Pope into all parts of the world. 
To guard against the corruptions of preceding orders, the members 
were not to accept of any church preferment, except by the positive 




44 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1550. 


command of the Pope, nor of any fees for religious services; nor 
could the houses of the professed and the coadjutors (the two high¬ 
est ranks of the order) have any endowments, though the colleges 
and novitiates might. 

That which gave the Jesuits their first success was their introduc¬ 
tion of good works, acts of charity and hmnanity, a care for the 
salvation of others, as well as their own, into the first class of 
duties. Instead of being bound, like the other Catholic orders, to 
a peculiar garb and the stated repetition of formal prayers and 
ceremonies, they wore the ordinary clerical dress, and their time 
was to be divided between mental prayers and good works, of which 
the education of youth, the direction of consciences, and the com¬ 
fort and care of the poor and sick, were the principal. In this lat¬ 
ter service, novices, or probationers, who must be at least fourteen 
years of age, of sound body, of good abilities and fair character, 
were to be tried for two years. From the novitiate, after taking 
the vows, the neophytes passed into the colleges, to which also 
were attached schools for lay pupils. From the colleges they 
might be admitted coadjutors and professed, which latter class must 
have studied theology for four years. These two latter ranks were 
to live in professed houses, which, unlike the colleges and novitiates, 
could have no property, but must be supported by alms. The coad¬ 
jutors were of two classes: those admitted to holy orders, from 
which class the rectors of the colleges were appointed; and the lay 
coiidjutors, furnishing cooks, stewards, agents, and the business men 
generally of the society. The professed and the coadjutors must 
renounce all claim to hereditary succession, not for themselves only, 
but for the society also. There were, however, a class of lay co¬ 
adjutors who simply took the vows, yet continued to enjoy their 
property and lived in the world. 

AVhat added to the efiiciency of the order was its strict military 
organization. It had nothing about it of the republican cast of the 
other Catholic orders, in which rotation in ofl&ce occurred, chapters 
were frequent, and many points were decided by a majority of 
votes. The general of the Jesuits, chosen for life by a select con¬ 
gregation, had absolute authority, as had also, under him, each in 
his sphere, the provincials, the vice-provincials, the superiors of 
professed houses, and the rectors of colleges, all of whom the 



MISSION OF XAVIER TO THE EAST. 


45 


general might appoint and remove at pleasure. The general 
received monthly reports from the provincials and vice-provincials, 
quarterly ones from the superiors of professed houses, and rectors 
of colleges, and half-yearly ones from every professed member. 
Every member was bound to report to his immediate superior his 
own misconduct or that of any of his companions. 

John III., of Portugal, though very desirous of sending out a 
competent supply of spiritual laborers to his dominions in the East, 
could hardly find the means for it at home. There was but a 
single university — that of Coimbra — in all Portugal, and that not 
much frequented. John, it is true, had exerted himself in behalf 
of that institution, by inviting professors not only from Spain, but 
from Germany and Italy; but as yet the few Portuguese who 
devoted themselves to study sought their education, for the most 
part, at Complutmn, or Salamanca, and some of them at Paris. 
In this dearth of Portuguese laborers, having heard some rumor 
of the new order of the Jesuits, John charged his ambassador at 
Home to request the founder, Ignatius, to send him for service in 
India not less than six members of it. Loyola, who had other 
schemes on foot, could spare only two, one of whom, Rodriguez, the 
original Portuguese of the order, remained behind in Portugal to 
organize the society there, where he established at Coimbra the first 
Jesuit college. The other was Xavier, to whom, as a test of his 
obedience — though, the order being as yet not formally authorized, 
Loyola had no legal authority over him — the command for his 
dej^arture was communicated only the day beforehand, leaving him 
scarcely time, before setting out upon so distant a journey, to say 
farewell to his friends, and to get the rents mended in his tattered 
and thread-bare cloak. He was indeed able to get ready the easier, 
not having, like our modern missionaries, the incumbrance or the 
comfort of a wife and children, and no baggage to impede his 
movements, beyond his prayer-book and the clothes on his back. 

Arriving at Lisbon, he waited on the king, but immediately 
upon leaving the palace proceeded, as was his wont, to the pub¬ 
lic hospital, devoting all his time, till the ships were ready, to the 
care and consolation of the sick and dying. While here he received 
from the Pope the appointment of apostolic nuncio for India, with 
full powers. Of all the offers made to him of an outfit for the 






46 


JAPAN. — A. 1). 1542—1550. 


voyage he would for a long time accept of nothing; but at last, lest he 
should seem too obstinate, he consented to receive some coarse cloaks, 
to be used in passing the Cape of Good Hope, one for himself, and one 
for each of the two companions who were to accompany him; like¬ 
wise a few books, of which he understood there was a great scarcity 
in India. To the offer pressed upon him of the service of a boy to 
attend to his daily wants during the voyage, he replied, “ While I 
have hands and feet of my own I shall need no servant.” The 
matter being still urged, with the remark that it was unfitting for a 
man in his position to be openly seen among the crowd of sailors 
and passengers washing his clothes or cooking his daily food, 
“You see,” he answered, “to what a pass this art of preserving 
one’s dignity has brought the commonwealth of Christendom ! For 
my part, there is no office, however humble, which, provided there 
be no sin in it, I cannot upon occasion perform.” This was a 
specimen of his whole conduct throughout the voyage, which com¬ 
menced April 7, 1541, giving rise to a remark of the captain of 
the fleet, that it was even harder to make Xavier accept anything 
than it was to get rid of other men’s importunities. 

All this self-sacrifice, accompanied as it was by a most careful 
attention to the wants of others, was not without its reward. It 
gave Xavier — not to mention his subsequent canonization — an 
immense reputation with his fellow-voyagers, and a great influence 
over them, which he did not fail to exercise. Already, amid all 
this early austerity, the principles of Jesuitism were fully devel¬ 
oped. Xavier addressed everybody, even the most notorious profli¬ 
gates, with mild familiarity, no severity in his face, no harshness in 
his words. He even volunteered himself as a sociable companion, 
and thus acquired an influence the greater because it was hardly per¬ 
ceived by those who submitted to it, so that he was generally said, by 
those who knew him best, to have accomplished much more by his 
familiar conversation than even by his public preaching, — of the 
efiects of which, however, very extraordinary stories were told. 

He arrived at Goa in May, 1542, and, taking lodgings at a hos¬ 
pital, entered at once with great zeal on the duties of his office as 
Pope’s nuncio, provincial in India of the order of Jesuits, and apos¬ 
tolical missionary, professing, however, entire submission to the 
bishop of Goa. Passing through the streets, bell in hand, he called 




Xavier’s mission thither. 


47 


the children, women and servants, to be catechized, and, to help the 
memory and catch the ear, he put the catechism into rhyme. But 
it was not merely to the Christian population that he confined his 
labors. He had to encounter the scornful fanaticism of the Mahom¬ 
etans, who, setting out from Arabia, had preceded the Portuguese 
by centuries in commercial and military visits to the coasts of 
India and the eastern islands, and who had in many places largely 
diffused their religion. He had to meet the insolent bigotry of the 
twice-born Brahmins, who, through the system of castes, held society 
fast bound, helpless and stationary, in the fetters of an all-pervading 
superstition. Jewish scoffers were also to be met. In fact, all sects 
seemed to be brought together in southern India, including even an 
ancient form of Christianity, a remnant of the followers of Zoroaster, 
from Persia, and in Ceylon, Buddhists. After a year’s stay at Goa, 
Xavier proceeded to the southern point of Hindostan, about Cape 
Comorin, the pearl-fishers of which region had, for the sake of 
Portuguese protection, professed the Christian religion, of which, 
however, they knew nothing but the name. Having preached for 
a year or more in this district, he passed to the neighboring terri¬ 
tories of the Coromandel coast, where there already existed the 
remains before referred to of an ancient Christianity, originally 
propagated, it seems probable, by Nestorian missionaries, of the fifth 
or sixth century, but which the Portuguese insisted upon ascribing 
to 8t. Thomas, the apostle, about whose life and labors in the East a 
whole volume of fables was, between them and the native Christians, 
speedily manufactured. 

Incapable of staying long in one place, from India Xavier soon pro¬ 
ceeded to Malacca, where he arrived towards the close of 1545, and 
whence the next spring he set out on a missionary journey through the 
Moluccas. It was on his return from this last expedition that he 
first'met with the Japanese Angiro, at Malacca, — as related, after 
Pinto, in the preceding chapter, — with whom he arrived at Goa 
in March, 1548. The Japanese were placed, as has been men¬ 
tioned, in the seminary of St. Paul; and so delighted was Xavier 
with their progress and fervor, as to resolve to undertake, after 
visiting his churches at Cape Comorin, a new mission to Japan. 

We have seen the account given by Pinto of the origin of the 
acquaintance between Xavier and Angiro. The biographers of the 





48 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1542—1550. 


Baint, and the Jesuit historians of the Japanese mission, embellish 
this story by the addition of several romantic particulars. Angiro, 
they tell us, had long been troubled with remorse of conscience, for 
which he could find no remedy, and which he only aggravated in 
the attempt to cure it by retiring for a time to a Japanese monas¬ 
tery of bonzes. Having made the acfiuaintance of some of the 
earliest Portuguese adventurers to Japan, he consulted them as to 
this malady, one of whom, by name Alvares \ az, having heard the 
fame of Xavier, strongly advised the inquiring Japanese to seek 
his assistance. Angiro was much inclined to do so ; but the 
danger and distance of the voyage deterred him, till, having killed 
a man in a rencontre, the fear of arrest drove him to embark on 
the first vessel he could find, which happened to be a Portuguese 
ship bound for Malacca, and commanded by Greorge Alvarez, a 
great admirer of Xavier’s. The good example and edifying dis¬ 
course of this pious sea-captain brought Angiro to the determina¬ 
tion to become a Catholic; but being disappointed in finding Xavier 
as he had expected, or, according to other accounts, being refused 
baptism by the vicar of the bishop of G oa resident at Malacca, he 
thought no more but of returning home again, and with that 
object, not meeting with any ship bound direct for Japan, he em¬ 
barked for Chincheo, in China. Thence lie sailed for home; but a 
terrible storm drove him back to the port he had left, reviving also 
his almost forajotten resolution to become a Catholic, in which ho 
was the more confirmed by happening to find in the harbor his old 
Portuguese friend, Alvares Yaz, in command of a ship on her way 
back to India. Yielding to the persuasions of this old friend, 
Angiro sailed in his ship for Malacca ; and, on landing there, the 
very first person whom he met was George Alvarez, who immediately 
took him to Xavier. These accounts also give him two J apanese 
servants, both of whom are stated to have accompanied him to Goa, 
and to have been baptized, one by the name of John, the other 
by that of Anthony. And this last part of the story is confirmed 
by a letter of Xavier’s, dated July, 1549, and written from Malacca 
on his way to Japan, in which letter he gives an interesting, and 
at the same time characteristic, account of his converts, very much 
in substance, and even in expression, like what we may read in the 
very latest missionary reports. 




PAUL OF THE HOLY FAITH. 


49 


“ No sooner,” he writes, “ had they been cleansed by the waters 
of baptism, than the divine goodness shed upon them such delight, 
and brought them to such a ’sense of God’s beneficence towards 
them, that through pious and spiritual joy they melted into tears. 
In all the virtues they made such a progress as to afford us a 
pleasant and useful subject of conversation. They also learnt to 
read and write, and diligently attended at the appointed seasons 
of prayer. When inquired of by me what subject of contemplation 
affected them most, they answered, the sufferings of our Lord; and, 
therefore, to this contemplation they chiefly applied themselves. 
They studied also the articles of faith, the means of redemption, 
and the other Christian mysteries. To my frequent inquiries what 
religious rites they found profited them the most, they always an¬ 
swered, confession and communion ; adding, also, that they did not 
see how ? reasonable man could hesitate to assent to and obey 
the requirements of Christian discipline. Paul of the Holy Faith, 
one of the number, I once heard bursting out, with sighs, into these 
exclamations : ‘ 0, miserable Japanese! who adore as deities the 
very things which God has made for your service! ’ And when I 
asked him to what he referred, he answered, ‘ Because they worship 
the sun and the moon, things made to serve those who know the 
Lord Jesus ; for to what other end are they made, except to illu¬ 
minate both day and night, in order that men may employ that 
light in the worship and to the glory of God and his Son ? ’ ” 

He mentions, in the same letter, that the voyage to Japan was so 
dangerous, that not more than two vessels out of three were expected 
to arrive there in safety. He even seems to have had seme temp¬ 
tations to abandon the enterprise; but in spite of numerous obstacles 
put in his way, as he will have it, by the great adversary of man¬ 
kind, he determined to persevere, especially as letters from Japan 
gave encouraging information of the desire there for Christian in¬ 
struction, on the part of a prince of the country who had been much 
impressed by the efficacy of the sign of the cross, as employed by 
certain Portuguese merchants, in driving the evil spirits from a 
haunted house. 

Another letter of Xavier’s, written from Cangoxima, in Japan, 
and dated in November, 1549, about three months after his arrival, 
gives an account of his voyage thither. 

5 




60 


JAPAN. 


A. B. 1542—1550. 


Taking with him the three Japanese, Cosme de Torres, a priest, 
and Jean Fernandes, a brother of the society, — of which, besides 
several who had joined it in India, some ten or twelve members had 
followed Xavier from Portugal, and had been distributed in vari¬ 
ous services,— he sailed in the ship of a Chinese merchant, who had 
agreed with the Portuguese commander at Malacca to carry him 
to Japan. As Pinto tells the story, this merchant was a corsair, 
and so notorious a one as to go by the name of the Robber. 
Xavier says nothing of that, but complains of the levity and vacil¬ 
lation natural to barbarians, which made the captain linger at the 
islands where he touched, at the risk of losing the monsoon and 
being obliged to winter in China. Xavier was also greatly shocked 
at the assiduous worship paid by the mariners to an idol which they 
had on board, and before which they burnt candles and odoriferous 
wood, seeking oracles from it as to the result of the voyage. 
“What were our feelings, and what we suffered, you can well 
imagine,” he exclaims, “ at the thought that this demon should be 
consulted as to the whole course of our journey! ” 

After touching at Canton, the Chinese captain, instead of sailing 
thence to Japan, as he had promised, followed the coast north 
toward Chincheo ; but hearing, when he approached that port, that 
it was blockaded by a corsair, he put off in self-defence for Japan, 
and arrived safe in the port of Cangoxima. 

Angiro, or Paul as he was now called, was well received by his 
relations, and forty days were spent by Xavier in laborious appli¬ 
cation to the rudiments of the language, and by Paul in translating 
into Japanese the ten commandments, and other parts of the Chris¬ 
tian faith, which Xavier determined, so he writes, to have printed 
as soon as possible, especially as most of the Japanese could read. 
Angiro also devoted himself to exhortations and arguments among 
his relations and friends, and soon made converts of his wife and 
daughter, and many besides, of both sexes. An interview was had 
with the king of Satsuma, — in which province Cangoxima was 
situated, — and he presently issued an edict allowing his subjects to 
embrace the new faith. This beginning seemed promising; but 
Xavier already anticipated a violent opposition so soon as his 
object came to be fully understood. He drew consolation, how¬ 
ever, from the spiritual benefits enjoyed by himself, “ since in these 




COSME DE TORRES. 


61 


remote regions,” so he wrote, “ amid the impious worshippers of 
demons, so very far removed from almost every mortal aid and con¬ 
solation, we almost of necessity, as it were, forget and lose ourselves 
in God, which hardly can happen in a Christian land, where the love 
of parents and country, intimacies, friendships and affinities, and 
helps at liand both for body and mind, intervene, as it were, be¬ 
tween man and God, to the forgetfulness of the latter.” And what 
tended to confirm this spiritual state of mind was the entire free¬ 
dom in Japan “ from those delights which elsewhere stimulate the 
flesh and break down the strength of mind and body. The Japan- 
ese,” he wrote, “ rear no animals for food. Sometimes they eat 
fish ; — they have a moderate supply of rice and wheat; but they 
live, for the most part, on vegetables and fruits ; and yet they attain 
to such a good old age, as clearly to show how little nature, else¬ 
where so insatiable, really demands.” 

Ano-iro himself wrote at the same time a short letter to the 

o 

brethren at Goa, but it adds nothing to the information contained 
in Xavier’s. 

The following account, which Cosme de Torres,* a Spaniard by 
birth, Xavier’s principal assistant, and his successor at the head 
of the mission, gives of himself in a letter written from Goa to the 
Society in Europe, just before setting out, shows, like other cases to 
be mentioned hereafter, that it was by no means merely from the 
class of students that the order of the Jesuits was at its commence¬ 
ment recruited. 

Though always inclined, so Cosme writes, to religion, yet many 
things and various desires for a long time distracted him. In the 
year 1538, in search he knew not of what, he sailed from Spain to 
the Canaries, whence he visited the West Indies and the continent 
of New Spain, where he passed four years in the greatest abun¬ 
dance, and satiety even, of this world’s goods. But desiring some¬ 
thing greater and more solid, in 1542 he embarked on board a fleet 
of six ships, fitted out by Mendosa, the viceroy of New Spain, to 
explore and occupy the islands of the Pacific, discovered by Magel¬ 
lan in 1521. Standing westward, on the fifty-fifth day they 
fell in, so Cosme writes, with a numerous cluster of very small, low 
islands, of which the inhabitants lived on fish and the leaves of 

♦ lu the Latin version of the Jesuit letters he is called Cosmus Turrianus. 



52 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1550. 


trees. Ten days after, they saw a beautiful island, covered with 
palms, but the wind prevented their landing. In another ten or 
twelve days, the ships reached the great island of Mindanao, two 
hundred leagues in circumference, but with few inhabitants. Sail¬ 
ing thence to the south they discovered a small island abounding in 
meat and rice; but having, during half a year’s residence, lost four 
hundred men in contests with the natives, who used poisoned arrows, 
they sailed to the Moluccas, where they remained about two years, 
till it was finally resolved, not having the means to get back to 
New Spain, to apply to the Portuguese governor to forward them 
to Goa. At Amboina, Cosine met with Xavier, whose conversa¬ 
tion revived his religious inclinations; and, proceeding to Goa, he 
was ordained a priest by the bishop there, who placed him in charge 
of a cure. But he found no peace of mind till he betook himself 
to the college of St. Paul (which seems by this time to have passed 
into the hands of the Jesuits), being the more confirmed in his res¬ 
olution to join the order, by the return of Xavier to Goa, whose 
invitation to accompany him to Japan he joyfully accejjted, and 
where he continued for twenty years to labor as a missionary. 

Cosnie, in his letter above quoted, says nothing of any hostile 
collision of the Spanish shijDS, in which he reached the East, with 
the Portuguese; but it appears, from Galvano’s account of this 
expedition, that such collision did take place. He also gives, as 
the reason why the Spaniards did not land on Mindanao, the oppo¬ 
sition they experienced from some of tlie princes of it, whe, by his own 
recent efforts, had been converted to Catholicism; and who, having 
given their obedience to him, would by no means incur his dis¬ 
pleasure by entertaining these interloping Spaniards. 

One of the Spanish ships was sent back to New Spain with news 
of their success thus far. This ship passed among the northern 
islands of the group, which seem now first to have received the name 
of the Philippines. Another fleet sailed from Seville, in the year 
1544, to cooperate with Bui Lopes; but none of the ships succeeded 
in passing the Straits of Magellaii, except one small bark, which ran 
up the coast to Peru. The Spaniards made no further attempts in 
the East till the expiration of ten years or more, when the Philip¬ 
pines were finally colonized — an event not without its influence 
upon the affairs of Japan. 



CHAPTER V. 


POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF JAPAN, AS FOUND BY THE PORTU¬ 
GUESE.— THE JACATAS, OR KINGS, AND THEIR VASSALS. — REVENUES.— 
MONEY. — DISTINCTION OF RANKS. — THE KUBO-SAMA. — THE DAIRI. — 
SINTO. -BUDDHISM. -SlUTO. -A. D. 1550. 

J APAN, as found by the Portuguese, embraced three large islands, 
besides many smaller ones. Ximo (or Kiusiu), the most southern 
and western of the group, and the one with which the Portuguese 
first became acquainted, is separated at the north, by a narrow 
strait, from the much larger island of Nipon, forming with its 
western portion a right angle, within which the third and much 
smaller island of Sikokf is included. These islands were found 
to be divided into sixty-six separate governments, or king¬ 
doms, of which Nipon contained fifty-three, Ximo (or Kiusiu) 
nine, and Sikokf four — the numerous smaller islands being 
reckoned as appurtenant to one or another of the three larger 
ones. These kingdoms, grouped into eight, or rather nine, larger 
divisions, and subdivided into principalities, of which, in all, 
there were not less than six hundred, had originally (at least 
such was the Japanese tradition) been provinces of a consol¬ 
idated empire; but by degrees and by dint of civil wars, by which 
the islands had been, and still were, very much distracted, they had 
reached, at the period of the Portuguese discovery, a state of almost 
complete independence. Indeed, several of the kingdoms, like that 
of Figen, in the west part of Ximo, had still further disintegrated 
into independent principalities. 

It still frequently happened, however, that several provinces were 
united under one ruler ; and such was especially the case with five 
central provinces of Nipon, including the great cities of Miako, 
Ozaka^ and Sakai^ which five provinces formed the patrimony of a 
5 =^ 


54 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


prince wlio bore the title of Kubo-Saina — Sama meaning lord, 
and Kubo general or commander. This title the Portuguese ren¬ 
dered into Emperor, and it was almost precisely equivalent to the 
original sense of the Imperator of the Romans, though still more 
exactly corresponding to Cromwell’s title of Lord-general. 

This Kubo-Sama, or Siogun, as he was otherwise called, was 
acknowledged by all the other princes as in some respect their supe¬ 
rior and head. The other rulers of provinces bore the title of 
tSougo or Jacata, which the Portuguese rendered by the term King. 
Reserving to themselves, as their personal domain, a good half of 
the whole extent of their territories, these chiefs divided the rest 
among certain great vassals, called Tono, Conisu, or Kounidaimio, 
who were bound to military service in proportion to the extent of 
the lands which they held; which lands, after reserving a portion 
for their private domain, these nobles distributed in their turn to 
other inferior lords, called Joriki, who held of them upon similar 
conditions of military service, and who had still beneath them, upon 
the same footing, a class of military vassals and tenants, called 
Losiu, and corresponding to the men-at-arms of the feudal times 
of Europe. The actual cultivators of the lands—as had also been, 
and still to a considerable extent was, the case in feudal Europe — 
were in the condition of serfs. 

Tlius it happened, that, as in feudal Europe, so in Japan, great 
armies might be very suddenly raised; and war bemg the chief 
employment of the superior classes, and the only occupation, that 
of the priesthood excepted, esteemed honorable, the whole country 
was in a constant state of turbulence and commotion. 

All the classes above enumerated, except the last, enjoyed the 
highly-prized honor of wearing two swords. One sword was worn 
by certain inferior officials; but merchants, traders and artisans 
were confounded, as to this matter, with the peasants, not being per¬ 
mitted to wear any. The revenue of the princes and other proprie¬ 
tors was, and still is, reckoned in koku or kokf of rice, each of 
three sacks, or bales, each bale containing (according to Titsingh) 
thirty-three and one third gantings— the universal Japanese meas¬ 
ure for all articles, liquid or dry ~ and weighing from eighty-two 
to eighty-three katties, or somewhat more than a hundred of our 



REVENUES AND MONEY. 


55 


pounds * Ten thousand kokf make a man-kokf, in which the rev¬ 
enues of the great princes are reckoned. The distinction of rank 
w'as very strictly observed, being even-ingrained into the language.t 
Inferiors being seated on their heels, according to the Japanese 
fashion, testified their respect for their superiors by laying the 
palms of their hands on the floor, and bending their bodies so low 
that their foreheads almost touched the ground, in which position 
they remained for some seconds. This is called the Htu. The 
superior responded by laying the palms of his hands upon his knees, 
and nodding or bowing, more or less low, according to the rank of 
the other party. 

As to everything that required powers of analysis, or the capacity 
of taking general views, the Portuguese missionaries were but poor 
observers; yet they could not but perceive in the Dairi the surviv¬ 
ing shadow, and indeed, in the earlier days of the missions, some- 

* It appears from Golownin that there are also smaller packages, of which 
three make the large one. The price of rice varied, of course ; but Kampfer 
gives five or six taels of silver as the average value of the kokf. Titsingh 
represents the kokf as corresponding to the gold kobang, the national coin 
of the Japanese. The original kobang weighed forty-seven konderins, or 
rather more than our eagle ; but, till the year 1672, it passed in Japan as 
equivalent to about six taels of silver. The present kobang contains only 
half as much gold ; and yet, as compared with silver, is rated still higher. 
The kobang is figured by Kampfer as an oblong coin rounded at the ends, the 
surface, on one side, marked with four rows of indented lines, and bearing 
at each end the arms or symbol of the Dairi, and between them a mark 
sliowing the value, and the signature of the master of the mint. The other 
side was smooth, and had only the stamp of the inspector-general of gold and 
silver money. Kampfer also figures the obani, which even in his time had be¬ 
come very rare, similar to the kobang, but of ten times the weight and value. 
A third gold coin was the itsibo, figured by Kampfer as an oblong square. 
According to Thunburg, it was of the value of a quarter of the kobang. Silver 
passed by weight. The Japanese do not appear to have had any silver coins, 
unless lumps of irregular shape and weight, but bearing certain marks and 
stamps, were to be so considered. In ordinary retail transactions copper senif 
or kas, as the Chinese name was, were employed. They were round, with a 
square hole in the middle, by which they were strung. Some were of double 
size and value, and some of iron. For further information on the Japanese 
monetary system, and on the present state and value of the Japanese circu¬ 
lating medium, see chapters xxv., xxxix., and xlvi. 

t See Appendix, note A. 



56 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1281—1550. 


thing more than a mere shadow, of a still more ancient form of gov¬ 
ernment, in which the civil and ecclesiastical authority had both 
been united under one head.' 

The Dairi,* Vo, or Mikado, as he was otherwise designated, had 
for his residence the north-east quarter of Miako (a great city, not 
far from the centre of Nipon, but nearest the southern shore). This 
quarter was of vast extent, surrounded by a wall, with a ditch and 
rampart, by which it was separated from the rest of the city. In the 
midst of this fortified place, in a vast palace, easily distinguished from 
a distance by the height of its tower, the Dairi dwelt, with his empress 
or chief wife; his other eleven wives had adjoining palaces in a cir¬ 
cle around, outside of which were the dwellings of his chamberlains, 
and other officers. These Dairi claimed to be descended from Sy?i- 
Mu, who, it was said, had, a. c. 660, introduced civilization into 
Japan, and first established a regular government, and commencing 
with whom, the Japanese annals show a regular series of Dairi, 
who are represented as having been for many ages the sole lords 
and imperial rulers of Japan, till, at length, they had been insensi¬ 
bly set aside, as to the actual exercise of authority, by the Cubo- 
Sama, or commanders of the armies. Yet these gradually 
eclipsed and finally superseded emperors — equivalents of the 
“ idle kings ” of the Carlovingian race of ^ France, or to the present 
nominal sovereign of the British empire — were, and still are, 
treated (as Queen Victoria is) with all the ceremonial of sub¬ 
stantial power, and even with the respect and reverence due to the 
spiritual head of the national church, descended from a race of 
divinities, and destined at death to pass by a regular apotheosis into 
the list of the national gods. 

All the revenue drawn from the city of Miako and its dependen¬ 
cies was appropriated to their support, to which the Kubo-Sama 
added a further sum from his treasury. He himself treated the 
Dairi with as much ceremonious respect and semi-worship as the 
British prime minister bestows upon the British queen. He paid 
an annual visit to the court of the Dairi in great state, and with 
all the carriage of an inferior ; but took care to maintain a garri- 

* Dairi, in its original sense, is said, by Rodriguez, in his Japanese gram¬ 
mar, to signify rather the court than the person of the theocratic chief to 
whom it is applied ; and so of most of the titles mentioned in the text. 



THE DAIRI AND HIS COURT. 


57 


son at Miako, or its neighborhood, sufficient to repress any attempt 
on the part of the Dairi or his partisans to reestablish the old 
order of things, — an idea which, when the islands first became 
known to the Portuguese, seems not yet to have been entirely 
abandoned. 

We may trace a still further resemblance between the position of 
the Dairi of Japan and the Queen of England, in the circumstance 
that all public acts are dated by the years of his reign, and that 
all titles of honor nominally emanate from him, though of course 
obliged, as to this matter, to follow the suggestions of the Kubo- 
Sama. Even the Kubo-Sama himself condescends, like a British 
prime minister, to accept such decorations at the hands of the Dairi, 
affecting to feel extremely honored and flattered at titles which had 
been, in fact, dictated by himself. 

The whole court of the Dairi, and all the inhabitants of the quar¬ 
ter of Miako in which he dwelt, consisted of persons who plumed 
themselves upon the idea of being, like the Dairi himself, descended 
from Tensio Dai-Dsin, the first of the demigods, and who in 
consequence looked down, like the Indian Brahmins, upon all the 
rest of the nation as an inferior race, distinguishing themselves as 
Kuge, and all the rest of the nation as Gege. These Kuge, who 
may be conjectured to have once formed a class resembling the old 
Boman patricians, all wore a particular dress, by which was indi¬ 
cated, not only their character as members of that order, but, by the 
length of their sashes, the particular rank which they held in it; a 
distinction the more necessary, since, as generally happens with 
tliese aristocracies of birth, many of the members were in a state of 
poverty, and obliged to support themselves by various handicrafts.* 

Of the magnificence of the court of the Dairi, and of the ceremo¬ 
nials of it, the missionaries reported many stories, chiefly, of course, 
on the credit of hearsay. It was said that the Dairi was never 
allowed to breathe the common air, nor his foot to touch the 
ground; that he never wore the same garment twice, nor eat a 


* According to Rodriguez, there had been also an ancient military nobil¬ 
ity, called buke; but in the course of the civil wars many families of it had 
become extinct, while other humble families, who had risen by way of 
arras, mostly formed the existing nobility. 



68 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1550. 


second time from the same dishes, which, after each meal, were 
carefully broken, — for, should any other person attempt to dine 
from them, he would infallibly perish by an inflammation of the 
throat. Nor could any one who attempted to wear the Dairi’s cast¬ 
off garments, without his permission, escape a similar punishment. 
The Dairi, as we are told, was, in ancient times, obliged to seat 
himself every morning on his throne, with the crown on his head, 
and there to hold himself immovable for several hours like a statue. 
This immobility, it was imagined, was an augury of the tranquillity 
of the empire; and if he happened to move ever so little, or even to 
turn his eyes, war, famine, fire, or pestilence, was expected soon to 
afflict the unhappy province toward which he had squinted. But as 
the country was thus kept in a state of perpetual agitation, the 
happy substitute was finally hit upon of placing the crown upon the 
throne without the Dairi — a more fixed immobility being thus 
assured; and, as Kiimpfer dryly observes, one doubtless producing 
much the same good efiects. 

At the time of the arrival of Xavier in Japan the throne of the 
Bairi was filled by Gronara, the hundred and sixth, according to 
the Japanese chronicles, in the order of successioiT; while the throne 
of theKubo-Sama was occupied by Josi Far, who was succeeded, the 
next year, by his son, Josi Tir, the twenty-fourth of these officers, 
according to the Japanese, since their assumption of sovereign 
power in the person of Joritomo, a. d. 1185. 

The Japanese annals, which are scarcely more than a chronologi¬ 
cal table of successions, cast little light upon the causes and progress 
of this revolution; * but, from the analogy of similar cases, we may 
conjecture that it was occasioned, at least in part, by the introduction 
into Japan, and the spread there, of a new religion, gradually super- 

* According to the Japanese historical legends, the office of Cubo-Sama, 
originally limited to the infliction of punishments and the suppression of 
crimes, was shared, for many ages, between the two families of Ghenji and 
Feiji, till about 1180, when a civil war broke out between these families, and, 
the latter, having triumphed, assumed such power that the Dairi commis¬ 
sioned Joritomo, a member of the defeated family of Ghenji, to inflict punish¬ 
ment upon him. Joritomo renewed the war, killed Feiji, and was himself 
appointed Kubo-Sama, but ended with usux'ping a greater power than any 
of his predecessors. 



RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF SINTO. 


59 


seding, to a great extent, the old system, of which the Dairi was 
the head. 

One might have expected from the Portuguese missionaries a 
pretty exact account of the various creeds and sects of Japan, 
or, at least, of the two leading religions, between which the great 
bulk of the people were divided; instead of which they confound 
perpetually the ministers of the two religions under the common 
name of bonzes, taking very little pains to distinguish between two 
systems both of which they regarded as equally false and pernicious. 
Their attention, indeed, seems to have been principally fixed on the 
new religion, that of Puddha, or Fo, of which the adherents were by far 
the most numerous, and the hierarchy the most compact and for¬ 
midable, presenting, in its organization and practices (with, however, 
on some points a very different set of doctrines), a most singular 
counterpart to the Catholic church, — a similarity which the mis¬ 
sionaries could only explain by the theory of a diabolical imitation; 
and which some subsequent Catholic writers have been inclined to 
ascribe, upon very unsatisfactory grounds, to the ancient labors of 
Armenian and Nestorian missionaries, being extremely unwilling to 
admit what seems, however, very probable, if not, indeed, certain, 
— little attention has as yet been given to this interesting inquiry, — 
that some leading ideas of the Catholic church have been derived from 
Buddhist sources, whose missionaries, while penetrating, as we know 
they did, to the East, and converting entire Rations, may well be 
supposed not to have been without their infiuence also on the West. 

Notwithstanding, however, the general prevalence, at the time 
when Japan first became known to Europeans, of the doctrine of 
Buddha, — of which there would seem to have been quite a number 
of distinct observances, not unlike the different orders of monks and 
friars in the Catholic church, — it appears, as well from the memoirs 
of the Jesuit-missionaries, as from more exact and subsequent ob¬ 
servations made by residents in the Butch service, that there also 
existed another and more ancient religious system, with which the 
person and authority of the Bairi had been and still were closely 
identified. This system was known as the religion of Sinto, or of 
the Kami — a name given not only to the seven mythological per¬ 
sonages, or celestial gods, who compose the first Japanese dynasty, 
and to the five demigods, or terrestrial gods, who compose the second 



60 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


(two dynasties which, as in the similar mythology of the Egyptians 
and Hindoos, were imagined to have extended through immense 
and incomprehensible ages preceding the era of Syn-Mu), but in¬ 
cluding also the whole series of the Dairi, who traced their descent 
from the first of the demigods, and who, though regarded during 
their lives as mere men, yet at their deaths underwent, as in the 
case of the Roman Caesars, a regular apotheosis, by which they 
were added to the number of the Kami, or Sin^ — words both of 
which had the same signification, namely, inhabitants of heaven.* 
A like apotheosis was also extended to all who had seemed to 
deserve it by their sanctity, their miracles, or their great bene¬ 
factions. 

The Kami of the first dynasty, the seven superior gods, being 
regarded as too elevated above the earth to concern themselves in 
what is passing on it, the chief object of the worship of the adhe¬ 
rents of this ancient system was the goddess Tensio Dai-Dsin, 
already mentioned as the first of the demigods, and the supposed 
progenitor of the Dairi, and of the whole order of the Kuge. Of 
this Tensio Dai-Dsin, and of her heroic and miraculous deeds, a 
vast many fables were in circulation. Even those who had quitted 
the ancient religion to embrace the new sects paid a sort of wor¬ 
ship to the pretended mother of the Japanese nation; and there 
was not a considerable city in the empire in which there was not 
a temple to her honor. On the other hand, the religion of the 
Kami, by its doctrine of the apotheosis of all great saints and 
great heroes, gave, like the old pagan religions, a hospitable recep¬ 
tion to all new gods, so that even the rival demigod, Buddha, came 
to be regarded by many as identical with Tensio Dai-Dsin, — a 
circumstance which will serve to explain the great intermixture of 
religious ideas found in Japan, and the alleged fact, very remark¬ 
able, if true, that, till after the arrival of the Portuguese missiona¬ 
ries, religious persecution had never been known there. 

Each of these numerous demigods was supposed by the adherents 
of the religion of Sinto to preside over a special paradise of his 

* The word Kami is also doubly used as a title of honor conferred -with the 
sanction of the Dairi, somewhat equivalent, says Kampfer, in one case, to 
the European title of chevalier, and in the other, to that of count. Golow- 
nin insists that it implies something spiritual. 



RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF SINTO. 


61 


own; this one in the air, that one at the bottom of the sea, one in 
the moon and another in the sun, and so on; and each devotee, 
choosing his god according to the paradise that pleased him best, 
spared no pains to gain admission into it. For what St. Paul had 
said of the Athenians, might, according to the missionaries, be 
applied with equal truth to the Japanese — they were excessively 
superstitious, and this superstition had so multiplied temples, that 
there was scarcely a city in which, counting all the smaller chapels, 
the number did not seem at least equal to that of the most pious 
Catholic countries. 

The temples of the Sinto religion, called Mias, were and still are 
— for in this respect no change has taken place — ordinarily built 
upon eminences, in retired spots, at a distance from bustle and busi¬ 
ness, surrounded by groves and approached by a grand avenue hav¬ 
ing a gate of stone or wood, and bearing a tablet or door-plate, of 
a foot and a half square, which announces, in gilded letters, the 
name of the Kami to whom the temple is consecrated. These exte- 
‘rior appendages would seem to foretell a considerable structure; 
but within there is usually found only a wretched little building of 
wood, half hid among trees and shrubbery, about eighteen feet in 
length, breadth and height, all its dimensions being equal, and with 
only a single grated window, through which the interior may be 
seen empty, or containing merely a mirror of polished metal, set in a 
frame of braided straw, or hung about with fringes of white paper. 
Just within the entrance of the enclosure stands a basin of water, 
by washing in which the worshippers may purify themselves. 
Beside the temple is a great chest for the reception of alms, part¬ 
ly by which, and partly by an allowance from the Dairi, the guard¬ 
ians of the temples are supported, while at the gate hangs a gong, 
on which the visitant announces his arrival. Most of these temples 
have also an antechamber, in which sit those who have the charge, 
clothed in rich garments. There are commonly also in the enclos¬ 
ure a number of little chapels, or miniature temples, portable so as 
to be carried in religious processions. All of these temples are 
built after one model, the famous one of Isje, near the centre of 
the island of Nipon, and which within the enclosure is equally 
humble with all the rest. 

The worship consists in prayers and prostrations. Works of 

6 




62 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


religious merit are, casting a contribution into the alms-chest, and 
avoiding or expiating the impurities supposed to be the consequence 
of being touched by blood, of eating of the flesh of any quadruped 
except the deer, and to a less extent even that of any bird, of kill¬ 
ing any animal, of coming in contact with a dead person, or even, 
among the more scrupulous, of seeing, hearing of, or speaking of 
any such impurities. To these may be added, as works of religious 
merit, the celebration of festivals, of which there are two principal 
ones in each month, being the first and fifteenth day of it, besides 
five greater ones distributed through the year, and lasting some of 
them for several days, in which concerts, spectacles and theatrical 
exhibitions, form a leading part. We must add the going on 
pilgrimages, to which, indeed, all the religious of Japan are greatly 
addicted. The pilgrimage esteemed by the adherents of Sinto as 
the most meritorious, and which all are bound to make once a 
year, or, at least, once in their life, is that of Isje^ or Ixo, the name 
of a central province on the south coast of Nipon, in which Tensio 
Dai-Dsin was reported to have been born and to have died, and 
which contains a Mia exceedingly venerated, and already mentioned 
as the model after which all the others are built. 

Though it is not at all easy to d^istinguish what, either of cere¬ 
mony or doctrine, was peculiar or original in the system of Sinto,"^ 

* The following system of Japanese cosmogony is given by Klaproth, as 
contained in an imperfect volume of Chinese and Japanese chronology, 
printed in Japan, in Chinese characters, without date, but which for more 
than a hundred years past has been in the Royal Library of Paris : “At 
first the heaven and the earth were not separated, the perfect principle and 
the imperfect principle wei’e not disjoined ; chaos, under the form of an egg, 
contained the breath [of life], self-produced, including the germs of all 
things. Then what was pure and perfect ascended upwards, and formed 
the heavens (or sky), while what was dense and impure coagulated, was 
precipitated, and produced the earth. The pure and excellent principles 
formed whatever is light, whilst whatever was dense and impure descended 
by its own gravity ; consequently the sky was formed prior to the earth. 
After their completion, a divine being {Kami) was born in the midst of 
them. Hence, it has been said, that at the reduction of chaos, an island 
of soft earth emerged, as a fish swims upon the water. At this period 
a thing resembling a shoot of the plant assi [Eryanthus Japonicus'] was 
produced between the heavens and the earth. This shoot was metamorphosed 



BUDDHISM. 


63 


yet in general that system seems to have been much less austere 
than the rival doctrine of Buddha, ■which teaches that sorrow is in¬ 
separable from existence, the only escape from it being in annihi¬ 
lation. The adherents of Sinto were, on the other hand, much more 
disposed to look upon the bright side of things, turning their relig¬ 
ious festivals into holidays, and regarding people in sorrow and 
distress as unfit for the worship of the gods, whose felicity ought 
not to be disturbed by the sight of pain and misery. And this, 
perhaps, was one of the causes that enabled the religion of Buddha, 
which addresses itself more to the sorrowing hearts of which the 
world is so full, to obtain that predominancy of which the Portu¬ 
guese missionaries found it in possession. 

Of this religion of Buddha, by no means peculiar to Japan, but 
prevailing through the whole of central and south-eastern Asia, and 
having probably more adherents than any oth^’ religious creed, it 
is not necessary here to speak at any length. A much more cor¬ 
rect idea of it is to be obtained from the recorded observations of 
our modern missionaries, and from the elaborate investigations of 
Abel Eemusat, and several other learned orientalists, who have shed 
a flood of light upon this interesting subject, than can be gathered 
from the letters of the Portuguese missionaries, whose comprehen¬ 
sion of the Buddhist doctrine was, on many important points, espe¬ 
cially as to the cardinal one of aimihilation, exceedingly confused, 
contradictory and erroneous ; and, indeed, the same confusion and 
error exists in almost all European travellers in the East, down to 
a very recent period. Suffice it to say, that in the austerities and 
contempt for the world and its pleasures, practised and professed 
by the bonzes of the Buddhists, even Xavier and his brother Jesuits 
found their match ; while, in the hierarchy into which those bonzes 
were arranged; the foreign language, imperfectly known even to 
themselves, of their sacred books and their liturgy, and which recent 
investigations have detected to be, with the bonzes of China and 
Japan, not Pali, alone but also pure Sanscrit; their doctrine of 
celibacy; the establishment of monasteries and nunneries; their 


and became the god [first of the seven superior gods] "who bears the hono¬ 
rific title of Kami toko kontsi-no mikoto, that is to say, the venerable one 
■who constantly supports the empire.” 




64 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


orders of begging devotees ; their exterior of purity and self-denial, 
but supposed secret licentiousness ; * their fasts ; their garbs ; the 
tinkling of bells ; the sign of the cross ; the rosaries on which they 
counted their prayers; the large number of persons of noble birth 
who entered upon the clerical life; their manner of preaching; their 
religious processions; their pilgrimages; the size, splendor and 
magnificence, of their temples, known as Tiras, the roofs suppoited 
by tall pillars of cedar; the altar within, and the lamps and in- 
cen,se burning there ; the right of asylum possessed by the Tiras ; 
and even the practice of confession, prayers for the dead, and the 
sale of merit; — in all these respects, this system presented a com¬ 
plete counterpart at least to the show and forms and priestly devices 
of that very scheme of Roman Catholic worship which Xavier and 
his brother missionaries sought to introduce into Japan. The only 
striking difference was in the images, often of gigantic size, to be 
found in the Tiras, but which, after all, were no more than a set-off 
against the pictures of the Catholic churches. 

At the head of the Buddhist hierarchy was a high priest called 
Xako, resident at Miako, and having much the same spiritual pre¬ 
rogative with the Pope of Rome, including the canonization of saints. 
With him rested the consecration of the Tuiidies, corresponding to 
the bishops, or rather to the abbots of the Catholic church—all the 
Buddhist clergy being, in the language of Rome, regulars (similar, 
tliat is, to the monks and friars), and living together in monasteries 
of which the Tundies were the heads. These Tundies, however, 
could not enter upon their offices, to which great revenues were 
attached, except by the consent of the temporal authorities, which 
took care to limit the interference of the Xako and the Tundies 
strictly to spiritual matters.! 

* In reading the accounts of the bonzes, and of the delusions which they 
practised on the people, contained in the letters of the Catholic missionaries, 
and the denunciations levelled against them in consequence, in those letters, 
one might almost suppose himself to be reading a Protestant sermon against 
Popery, or an indignant leader against the papists in an evangelical news¬ 
paper. The missionaries found, however, at least they say so, among other 
theological absurdities maintained by the bonzes, a number of the “ damnable 
Lutheran tenets.” 

t Buddha, or the sage (which the Chinese, by the metamorphosis made by 
their pronunciation of most foreign proper names, have changed first into 





BUDDHISM. 


65 


There was this further resemblance also to the regular orders of 
the Romish church, that the Buddhist clergy were divided into a 
number of observances, hardly less hostile to each other than the 
Dominicans to the Franciscans, or both to the Jesuits. But as the 
church and state were kept in Japan perfectly distinct — as now in 
the United States — and as the bonzes possessed no direct tempo¬ 
ral power, there was no appeal to the secular arm, no civil punish¬ 
ments for heresy, and no religious vows perpetually binding, all 

Fuh-hi, and then into Fuh, or Fo), is not the personal name of the great 
saint, the first preacher of the religion of the Buddhists, but a title of honor 
given to him after he had obtained to eminent sanctity. According to tiie 
concurrent traditions of the Buddhists in various parts of Asia, he was the 
son of a king of central India, Suddhd-dana, meaning in Sanscrit pure- 
eating king, or eater of pure food, which the Chinese have translated into 
their language by Zung-fung-^oang. His original name was Leh-ta; after 
he became a priest, he was called Sakia-mouni, that is, devotee of the race 
of Sakia, whence the appellation Siaka, by which he is commonly known in 
Japan, and also the name Xako applied to the patriarch, or head of the 
Buddhist church. Another Sanscrit patronymic of Buddha is Gautama^ 
which in dilferent Buddhist nations has, in conjunction with other epithets 
applied to him, been variously changed and corrupted. Thus among 
the Siamese he is called Summana-kodotn. 

The Buddhist mythology includes several Buddhas who preceded Sakia- 
mouni, and the first of v/hom,Jldi-Suddha, or the first Buddha, was when 
nothing else was, being in fact the primal deity, and origin of all things. 
It seems to be this first Buddha who is worshipped in Japan under the 
name of Amida, and whose priests form the most numerous and influential 
of the Buddhist orders. Siebold seems inclined to regard them as pure 
monotheists. 

The birth of Siaka is fixed by the Japanese annalists, or at least by the 
book of chronology quoted in a previous note, in the twenty-sixth year of 
the emperor Chaou-wang, of the Chinese Chew Dynasty, b. c. 1027. b. c. 
1006, he fled from his father’s house to become a priest; b. c. 998 he reached 
the highest step of philosophical knowledge ; b. c. 949, being seventy-nine 
years of age, he entered into JVirvana, that is, died. He was succeeded by a 
regular succession of Buddhist patriarchs, of whom twenty-eight were na¬ 
tives of Hindustan. The twenty-eighth emigrated to China, a. d. 490, Avhere 
he had five Chinese successors. Under the second of these, a. d. 552, Buddh¬ 
ism was introduced into Japan, a. d. 713,'the sixth and the last Chi¬ 
nese patriarch died, since which the Chinese Buddhists, and those who have 
received the religion from them, seem not to have acknowledged any general 
head, but only a local head in each country. 

6 # 



66 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


being at liberty, so far as the civil law was concerned, to enter or 
leave the monasteries at pleasure. It was also another result of 
this separation of state and church — as here in the United States— 
that there was only needed a Jo Smith, a man hardy or self-deceived 
enough to pretend to inspiration, to set up a new observance ; an 
occurrence by which the theology of Japan had become from time 
to time more and more diversified. 

There were also, besides the more regular clergy, enthusiasts, or 
impostors, religious vagabonds who lived by beggary, and by pre¬ 
tending to drive away evil spirits, to find things lost, to discover rob¬ 
bers, to determine guilt or innocence of accused parties, to interpret 
dreams, to predict the future, to cure desperate maladies, and other 
similar feats, which they performed chiefly through the medium, not 
of a table, but of a child, into whom they pretended to make a spirit 
enter, able to answer all their questions. Such, in particular, were 
the Jammabos^ or mountain priests, an order of the religion of Sinto. 

Yet, exceedingly superstitious as the Japanese were, there was not 
wanting among them a sect of Rationalists, the natural result of 
freedom of opinion, who regarded all these practices and doctrines, 
and all the various creeds of the country, with secret incredulity, 
and even contempt. These Rationalists, known as Siudosiu, and 
their doctrine as ^iuto^ and found chiefly among the upper classes, 
looked up to the Chinese Confucius as their master and teacher. 
They treated the system of Buddha with open hostility, as mere im¬ 
posture and falsehood; but, in order to avoid the odium of being 
destitute of all religion, conformed, at least so far as external ob¬ 
servances were concerned, to the old national system of Sinto. 





CHAPTER VI. 

CIVILIZATION OP THE JAPANESE. — ANIMALS. -AGRICULITIRE. -ARTS. — 

HOUSES.-SHIPS.-LITERATURE.-JURISPRUDENCE.-CHARACTER OF THE 

JAPANESE.-THEIR CUSTOM OF CUTTING THEMSELVES OPEN.—A. D. 1550. 

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls, one of the most dis¬ 
tinguishing tenets of the Buddhist faith, had not failed to confirm the 
Jaioanese in a distaste for animal food, which had originated, per¬ 
haps, from the small number of animals natives of that insular 
country, — an abstinence, indeed, which even the ancient religion 
of Sinto had countenanced by denouncing as impure the act of 
killing any animal, or being sprinkled with the slightest drop of 
blood. Of domestic tame animals, the Japanese possessed from 
time immemorial the horse, the ox, the bufialo, the dog, and the cat; 
but none of these were ever used as food. The Portuguese intro¬ 
duced the sheep and the goat; but the Japanese, not eating their 
flesh nor understanding the art of working up their wool or hair, 
took no pains to multiply them. The Chinese introduced the hog; 
but the eating of that animal was confined to them and to other 
foreigners. The deer, the hare and the wild boar, were eaten by 
some sects, and some wild birds by the poorer classes. The fox 
was hunted for its skin, the hair of which was employed for the 
pencils used in painting and writing. The animal itself, owing to 
its roguery, was believed to be the residence of particularly wicked 
souls—an idea confirmed by many strange stories in common circu¬ 
lation. The tortoise and the crane were regarded in some sort as 
sacred animals, never to be killed nor injured. Whales of a small 
species were taken, then as now, near the coast, and were used as 
food, as were many other kinds of fish, the produce of the sea and 
rivers. Shell-fish and certain sea-weeds were also eaten in large 
quantities. 

The soil of Japan, being of volcanic origin, was in some places 


68 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1550. 


very fertile; but in many parts there were rugged and inaccessible 
mountains, the sides of which, not admitting the use of the plough, 
were built up in terraces cultivated by hand. Agriculture formed 
the chief occupation of the inhabitants, and they had carried it to 
considerable perfection, well understanding the use of composite 
manures. The chief crops were rice, which was the great article 
of food; barley, for the horses and cattle; wheat, used principally 
for vermacellis; and several kinds of peas and beans. They culti¬ 
vated, also, a number of seeds, from which oils were exj)ressed; 
likewise cotton, hemp, the white mulberry for the feeding of silk¬ 
worms (silk being the stuff most in use), and the paper mulbci-ry 
for the manufacture of paper. To these may be added the camphor- 
tree, which grew, however, only in the south-western parts of Ximo, 
the Rhm vernix, which produces the celebrated Japanese varnish, 
and tlie tea-plant, spoken of by one of the early Portuguese mission¬ 
aries as “ a certain herb called Chia, of which they put as much as 
a walnut shell may contain into a dish of porcelain, and drink it 
with hot water.” From rice they produced by fermentation an 
intoxicating drink, called saki, which served them in the place of 
wine, and which was consumed in large quantities. A yeast, or 
rather vinegar, produced from this liquor, was largely employed in 
the pickling of vegetables. Their most useful woods were the bam¬ 
boo, the fir of several species, and the cedar. 

They understood in perfection the arts of weaving silks and 
of moulding porcelain, and excelled in gilding, engraving, and 
especially in the use of lacquer or varnish. They also were able 
to manufacture sword-blades of excellent temper. 

As in other eastern countries, the greater nobles exhibited an 
extreme magnificence; but trade and the arts were held in low 
esteem, and the mass of the people were excessively poor. Their 
buildings, though they had some few solid structures of stone, were 
principally light erections of wood, to avoid the efiects of frequent 
earthquakes; but this and the varnish employed exposed them to 
conflagrations, which, in the towns, were very frequent and destruc¬ 
tive. These towns consisted, for the most part, of very cheap struc¬ 
tures (like most of those throughout the East), so that cities were 
built and destroyed with equal ease and celerity. 

Their commerce was limited almost entirely to the interchange of 



CUSTOM OF LEGAL SUICIDE. 


69 


domestic products, a vast number of vessels, of rather feeble struc¬ 
ture, being employed in navigating the coasts of the islands, which 
abounded with deep bays and excellent harbors. 

Of the sciences, whether mathematical, mixed, or purely physical, 
they knew but little. They had, however, a considerable number 
of books treating of religion, medicine, and their history and tra¬ 
ditions. The young were instructed in eloquence, poetry, and a rude 
sort of painting and music, and they had a great fondness for theat¬ 
rical representations, in which they decidedly excelled. Their 
writing, in w'hich they greatly studied brevity, was in columns, as 
with the Chinese, from the top to the bottom of the page, for which 
they gave this reason : that writing ought to be a true representa¬ 
tion of men’s thoughts, and that men naturally stood erect. These 
columns read from right to left. They employed, besides the Chinese 
idiographic signs, a syllabic alphabet of their own, though in many 
w^orks the Chinese characters were freely introduced.* 

Jurisprudence, as in most eastern countries, was a very simple 
affair. The laws were very few. Heads of families exercised great 
power over their households. Most private disputes were settled by 
arbitration; but where this failed, and in all criminal cases, a 
decision was made on the spot by a magistrate, from whom there 
was seldom any appeal. The sentences were generally executed at 
once, and often with very great severity. Whether from their tem¬ 
perament, or their belief in the doctrines of transmigration and 
annihilation, it was observed that the Japanese met death with more 
courage than was common in Europe. It was, indeed, a point of 
honor, in many cases, to inflict it on themselves, which they did in 
a horrid manner, by cutting open their bowels by two gashes in the 
shape of a cross. The criminal who thus anticipated execution 
secured thereby the public sympathy and applause, saving his 
property fi-om confiscation, and his family from death; and, upon the 
death of superiors or masters, the same fate was often, as a mark 
of ‘personal devotion and attachment, self-inflicted ; and sometimes, 
also, in consequence of a disgrace or affront, to escape or revenge 
which no other means appeared.! The missionaries especially noted 

* For an account of the Japanese language, method of writing, literature, 
&c., see Note A, Appendix. 

t “ All military men, the servants of the Djogoun, and persons holding 




70 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1550. 


in the Japanese a pride, a self-respect, a haughty magnanimity, a 
sense of personal honor, very uncommon in the East, but natural 
characteristics enough of a people who had never been conquered by 
invaders from abroad; while the great vicissitudes to which they 
were exposed — all vassals generally sharing the fate of their su¬ 
periors — made them look upon the goods and evils of fortune in a 
very philosophical spirit. 

Such was the condition in which Japan was found when it first 
became known to Europe through the letters and relations of Xavier 
and the other Portuguese missionaries his successors. 

civil offices under the government, are bound, when they have committed any 
crime, to rip themselves up ; but not till they have received an order from 
the court to that effect ; for, if they were to anticipate this order, their heirs 
would run the risk of being deprived of their places and property. For this 
reason all the officers of government are provided, in addition to their usual 
dress, and that which they put on in the case of fire, with a suit necessary on 
such occasions,'"which they carry with them whenever they travel from home. 
It consists of a white robe and a habit of ceremony, made of hempen cloth, 
and without armorial bearings. 

“ As soon as the order of the court has been communicated to the culprit, 
he invites his intimate friends for the appointed day, and regales them with 
saki. After they have drank together some time he takes leave of them, and 
the order of the court is then read to him once more. The person who per¬ 
forms the principal part in this tragic scene then addresses a speech or com¬ 
pliment to the company, after which he inclines his head towards the floor, 
draAVS his sabre, and cuts himself with it across the belly, penetrating to the 
bowels. One of his confidential servants, who takes his place behind him, 
then strikes off his head. Such as wish to display superior courage, after the 
cross-cut inflict a second longitudinally, and then a third in the throat. No 
disgrace attaches to such a death, and the son succeeds to his father’s place. 

“ When a person is conscious of having committed some crime, and appre¬ 
hensive of being thereby disgraced, he puts an end to his own life, to spare 
his family the ruinous consequences of judicial pi’oceedings. This practice is 
so common that scarcely any notice is taken of such an event. The sons of all 
persons of quality exercise themselves in their youth, for five or six yeai-s, 
with a view that they may perform the operation, in case of need, with 
gracefulness and dexterity ; and they take as much pains to acquire ftiis 
accomplishment, as youth among us to become elegant dancers or skilful 
horsemen: hence the profound contempt of death, which they imbibe in 
their earliest years. This disregard of death, which they prefer to the slight¬ 
est disgrace, extends to the very lowest classes among the Japanese.” — 
Titsingh, Illustrations of Japan, p. 147. 




^ jk ttifi » - 

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5 '-. 

i-vr :V,x. 

CHAPTER VII. 

/ 

PREACHINQ OF XAVIER.-PINTO’S THIRD VISIT TO JAPAN.-A. D. 1550-51. 

It is not our purpose to trace minutely the progress and fluctu¬ 
ating fortunes of the Jesuit missionaries nor, indeed, would it always 
be easy to extract the exact truth from relations into which the 
marvellous so largely enters. Xavier’s letters throw very little 
light on the subsequent history of his mission, which mainly depends 
upon accounts derived from an inquisition into the particulars of 
the apostle’s ministry and miracles in the East, ordered to be made 
shortly after his death by John III.* of Portugal, and which resulted 
in a large collection of duly attested depositions, containing many 
marvellous statements, most of them purporting to come from eye¬ 
witnesses, from which source the Jesuit historians of the eastern 
missions and the biographers of the saint have drawn most of their 
materials. 

If we are to believe them, Xavier was not only always victorious 
in his disputes with the bonzes; he went even so far, shortly after 
his arrival in Japan, as to raise the dead — a miracle which furnished 
Poussin with a subject for a celebrated picture. Xavier, we are 
told, had been charged in India with a similar interference with the 
laws of nature; it is true he attempted to explain it away, as, 
perhaps, he would have done this Japanese miracle ; but that denial 
the historian Mafiei thinks, instead of disproving the miracle, only 
proves the modest humility of Xavier. 

Though at first well received, as we have seen, by the king of 
Satsuma, and though, in the course of near a year that he remained 
there, the immediate family and many of the relations of Angiro 
were persuaded to be baptized, yet the remonstrances of the bonzes, 
followed by the transfer of the Portuguese trade, for the sake of a 



72 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1550—1551. 


better harbor, from Cangoxima to Firando,^ caused the king of 
Satsuma to issue an edict forbidding his subjects, under pain of 
death, to renounce the worship of their national gods. In conse¬ 
quence of this edict, Xavier departed for Firando, which island, off 
the west coast of Ximo, having separated from the kingdom of 
Figen, had become independent under a prince of its own. Angiro 
was left behind, but soon afterwards was obliged to fly to China, 
where, as Pinto informs us, he was killed by robbers. 

At Firando, in consequence of the representations of the Portu¬ 
guese merchants, Xavier was well received ; but, desirous to see the 
chief city of Japan, leaving Torres behind, he set out with Fernandez 
and two Japanese converts on a visit to Miako. 

Proceeding by water, he touched first at Facata, a considerable 
town on the north-west coast of Ximo, and capital of the kingdom 
of CiiiCHUGEN, and then at Amanguchi^ at that time a large city, 
capital of Naugato, the most western kingdom or province of the 
great island of Nipon, separated at this point from Ximo by a nar¬ 
row strait. 

The populace of Amanguchi, ridiculing Xavier’s mean appearance 
as contrasted with his pretensions, drove him out of the city with 
curses and stones. Winter had now set in, and the cold was severe. 
The coast was infested by pirates, and the interior by robbers, which 
obliged the saint to travel as servant to some merchants, who, them¬ 
selves on horseback, required him, though on foot, and loaded with 
a heavy box of theirs, to keep up with them at full gallop. This,. 
however, seems a little exaggerated, as Japanese travellers on 
horseback never exceed a walk; while the box which Xavier carried 
is represented by the earlier writers as containing the sacred vessels 
for the sacrifice of the mass. 

Arriving thus at Miako, in rather sad plight, Xavier found that 
capital almost ruined by civil wars, and on the eve of becoming the 
field of a new battle. He could obtain no audience, as he had 
hoped, either of the Kubo-Sama or of the Xaco, nor any hearing 
except from the populace, so that he judged it best to return again 
to Firando. 

There are two means of working upon the imagination, both of 


* Otherwise written Firaio, which would seem to be more correct. 




pinto’s third visit. 


73 


which are employed by turns alike by the Romish and by the Buddh¬ 
ist clergy. One is by showing a contempt not merely for elegances, 
but even for common comforts and ordinary decencies ; the other, by 
pomp, show and display. Xavier, on his way to Miako, entered 
the city of Amanguchi barefoot and meanly clad, and had, as we 
have stated, been hooted and stoned by the populace. He now re¬ 
turned thither again from Firando handsomely clothed, and taking 
with him certain presents and recommendatory letters from the Por¬ 
tuguese viceroy of the Indies and the governor of Malacca, 
addressed to the Japanese princes, but of which as yet he had made 
no use. Demanding an audience of the king, he was received with 
respect, and soon obtained leave to preach, and an unoccupied house 
of the bonzes to live in. Here, being soon surrounded by crowds, he 
renewed, say his biographers, the miracle of tongues, not only in 
preaching fluently in Japanese and in Chinese to the numerous mer¬ 
chants of that nation who traded there, but in being able by a sin¬ 
gle answer to satisfy a multitude of confused questions which the 
eager crowd simultaneously put to him. Such was his success that, 
in less than two months, five hundred persons, most of them of con¬ 
sideration, received baptism ; and, though the king soon began to 
grow less favorable, the converts increased, during less than a year 
that he remained there, to three thousand. 

The seed thus planted, Xavier resolved to return to the Indies 
for a fresh supply of laborers; and, having heard of the arrival of 
a Portuguese vessel at Fucheo, in the kingdom of Bungo, lea ving 
de Torres and Fernandez at Amanguchi, he proceeded to Fucheo 
for the purpose of embarking. 

Among the merchants in this ship was Fernam Mendez Pinto, 
now in Japan for the third time, and who gives at some length the 
occurrences that took place after Xavier’s arrival at Fucheo, where 
he was received with great respect by the Portuguese, of whom 
more than thirty went out on horseback to meet him. 

The young king, whose name was Civan, had already obtained, 
through intercourse with Portuguese merchants, some knowledge of 
their religion. He invited Xavier to an audience, to which the 
Portuguese merchants accompanied him with so grand a display as 
somewhat to shock the modesty of the saint, but which strongly 
impressed in his favor the people of Bungo, to whom he had been 
7 




u 


JAPAN.-A. J). 1550—1551. 


represented by the bonzes as so miserable a vagabond as to disgust 
the very vermin with which he was covered. The young king 
received him very graciously; and he preached and disputed with 
such success as greatly to alarm the bonzes, who vainly attempted 
to excite a popular commotion against him as an enchanter, through 
whose mouth a demon spoke, and a cannibal, who fed on dead bodies 
which he dug up in the night. 

Finally, after conquering, in a long dispute before the king of 
Bungo, the ablest and most celebrated champion of the bonzes,* and 
converting several of the order to the faith, Xavier embarked for 
Goa on the 20th of September, 1651, attended by two of his Jap¬ 
anese converts. Of these one died at Goa. Ihe other, named 
Bernard, proceeded to Europe, and, after a visit to Borne, returned 
to Portugal, and, having entered the Society of Jesus, closed his 
life at the Jesuit college of Coimbra, a foimdation endowed by John 
III. for the support of a hundred pupils, to be prepared as mis¬ 
sionaries to the East. 

At Amanguchi, after Xavier’s departure, the bonzes, enemies of 
Catholicity, were more successful. An insurrection which they 
raised so alarmed the king, that he shut himself up in his palace, 
set it on fire, and, having slain his only son with his own hand, 
ended by cutting himself open. The missionaries, however, were 
saved by an unconverted princess, who even induced certain bonzes 
to shelter them; and a brother of the king of Bungo having been 
elected king of Xaugato, the Catholics, not one of whom, we are 
told, had been killed in the insurrection, were soon on a better foot¬ 
ing than ever. 

* Pinto gives a long account of this dispute, which has been substantially 
adopted by Luciua, the Portuguese biographer of Xavier, whose life of the 
saint was published in 1600, and who, in composing it, had the use of Pinto’s 
yet unpublished manuscript. Turselliui’s Latin biography of Xavier was 
published at Rome and Antwerp, 1596. From these was compiled the French 
life by Bouhours, which our Bryden translated. Tursellini published also 
four books of Xavier’s epistles, translated into Latin. Eight books of new 
epistles afterwards appeared. Charlevoix remarks of them “ that they are 
memoirs, of which it is not allowable to question the sincerity, but which 
furnish very little for history, which was not the writer’s object.” They are 
chiefly homilies. 




’^F.CEivpr '- 

MAR 27 ii^Ui 


•j. ■'. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS UNDER FATHERS DE TORRES AND NUGNES BAR¬ 
RETO, —MENDEZ PINTO A FOURTH TIME IN JAPAN.-A. D. 1551—1557. 

The apostle of the Indies returned no more to Japan. He died 
in December, 1552, at the age of forty-six, on his way to China, at 
the island of Sancian, a little way from Macao, partly, it would 
seem, through vexation at having been disappointed, by the jealousy 
and obstinacy of the governor of Malacca, in a more direct mission 
to that empire, on which he had set his heart, and for which he had 
made every arrangement. 

But already, before leaving for China, he had despatched from 
Malacca three new missionaries to Japan, Balthazar Gago, a priest, 
and two brothers, Peter d’Alcaceva and Edward de Sylva, who 
landed at Cangoxima in August, 1552, whence they proceeded to 
Bungo, where, as well as at Amanguchi, a site had been granted for 
a residence and a church. Father de Torres, now at the head of 
the mission, in a sort of general assembly of the faithful, to which 
the principal converts were admitted, regulated the policy of the 
infant church. To meet the objection of the bonzes, that the new 
converts had left their old religions to escape the usual contribu¬ 
tions of alms, it was resolved to establish hospitals for the sick and 
poor, as well pagan as converted, — and the more so as poverty in 
Japan was regarded as peculiarly despicable, and the poor as con¬ 
temned by the gods. To suit the taste of the Japanese for spectg.- 
cles, an impressive burial service was agreed upon. Great atten¬ 
tion, according to the policy of the Catholic church, and especially 
of the Jesuits, was bestowed on the education of the young. Not 
to be outdone by the bonzes, the missionaries practised great auster¬ 
ities ; regular whipping of themselves in church by all the converts 
made a stated part of their religious exercises; but what most con- 


TG 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1551—1557. 


tributed to the spread of the new faith was, so we are told, the cx- 
ceedino- zeal, self-denial, and disinterestedness of the new converts, 
including among the number several bonzes of the old religions, 
some of whom were made Jesuits, and even ordained priests, and 
who soon gave examples of sublime piety, which even the mission¬ 
aries themselves found it difficult to imitate. 

Meanwhile, Peter d’Alcaceva, one of the newly-arrived Jesuits, 
having been sent back to Goa for further aid, on his way to tiiat 
capital, found at Malacca the body of Xavier, preserved in quick¬ 
lime, and also on its way to Goa, whither he attended it. At Goa 
he encountered Fernain Mendez Pinto, who, having amassed great 
wealth in the Indies, was about to return to Portugal. Preliminary 
to this voyage Pinto made a general confession to Father Nugnes 
Barreto, the vice-provincial of the Jesuits ; after which, falling upon 
the subject of Xavier, whose dead body lying at Goa was reported 
to work numerous miracles, he related to his confessor many won¬ 
derful stories of the prodigies which he himself had witnessed while 
with Xavier at Bungo. Passing thence to the zeal and merits of 
the Japanese converts, he strongly urged Nugnes to proceed thither 
to take Xavier’s place, even offering himself to go as his companion, 
and to devote the whole of his fortune (except two thousand crowns 
to be sent to some poor relations in Portugal), partly to the found¬ 
ing of a seminary at Amanguchi, whence the faith might be diffused 
through the whole of Japan, and partly in purchasing magnificent 
presents for the princes of the country, which he thought would be 
a good means of securing their favor for the new religion. 

Pinto was accordingly appointed ambasvsador from the Portuguese 
viceroy to the king of Bungo, and Nugnes sailed for Malacca in his 
company, taking with him Father Gaspard Vilela, four brothers, 
not yet priests, and five young orphans from the Seminary of the 
Holy Faith, to act as catechists. Before setting out, Nugnes and 
his brother J esuits renewed their vows, according to a rule of the 
order, which required such a renewal once every six months. Pinto 
was present at this ceremony, and his excitable temperament was 
so wrought upon by it, that, seized with a sudden impulse, he 
insisted upon himself repeating the vows, with an additional one to 
consecrate his person and his goods to the Japanese mission. As 
he was the viceroy’s ambassador, it was resolved that he should not 



NUGNES BARRETO. 


77 


adopt the Jesuit habit till after he had fulfilled his mission — a 
delay which proved a lucky thing for Pinto, whose zeal speedily 
began to evaporate. He served, indeed, for some time in the hos¬ 
pitals of Malacca, where they arrived in June, 1554, and where, 
by the sickness of Nugnes and other accidents, they were detained 
upwards of a year; and, according to the letters of Nugnes, he 
gave great edification, the people admiring to see so rich a man, 
and one lately so fond of display and good living, clothed in rags 
and begging alms from door to door, having given up all his wealth 
that he might the better obey the Lord. 

Sailing from Malacca, Nugnes and his company, after perils from 
pirates, were driven by storms first to Sanchian, and then to Macao, 
whence, in the spring of 1556, Nugnes proceeded to Canton, where 
he made many unavailing efforts for the introduction of Catholicism 
into China. Meanwhile, he received letters from Groa, urging 
his return, enclosing one from Loyola himself,, disapproving of such 
long voyages by the vice-provincials of the order ; but he was still 
induced to proceed to Japan by a pressing letter from the prince of 
Firando, who hoped by his means to attract the Portuguese trade 
from Bungo to that port. He sailed accordingly for Firando, but 
was compelled by stress of weather to find a harbor in Bungo. 

Meanwhile, the parts of Japan occupied by the missionaries had 
been the seats of serious commotions. The king of Bungo had 
indeed confirmed his power by suppressing an insurrection ; but his 
brother, the king of Naugato, had been driven from his throne and 
defeated and slain by Marindono, a relative of the late king; 
and during this civil war, the city of Amanguchi had been sacked 
and burnt, and the missionaries obliged to fly for their lives to 
Bungo. There, too, a new insurrection had been attempted, but 
again without success; though the king still kept himself shut up 
in a fortress at a distance from his capital. He returned, however,- 
to receive Nugnes, which he did very graciously, but resisted, on 
grounds of expediency, all his exhortations to make an open profes¬ 
sion of Catholicism. Thus disappointed, Nugnes, after sending 
Gago to establish himself at Firando, thought it best to return to 
Goa. 

On arriving in Japan, the zeal of Pinto had speedily declined, 
and he had begun to sigh for his liberty. Perhaps he was alarmed 

7 * 



78 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1551—1557. 


at the appearance of Cosine do Torres, who, from being plump 
and portly, had, under the thin diet of the country, and the labors 
of the mission, grown to be exceedingly lean and haggard. At 
all events, it was found impossible to revive his fervor, and, as the 
Jesuits wanted no unwilling members, it was decided to release him 
from his vows. He returned with Nugnes to Goa, whence, not long 
after, he sailed for Lisbon. In his book he relates his last visit to 
Japan, but with no mention of his having joined the Jesuits, — of 
which our knowledge is drawn from the published letters of the 
missionaries, including one dated in 1554, and written by Pinto 
himself, from the college at Malacca, addressed to the scholars of 
the college of Coimbra, and giving a sketch of his travels in the 
East. 

Having arrived at Lisbon, Sept. 22, 1558, he delivered to the 
queen regent a commendatory letter from the viceroy of Goa, and 
had the honor to explain to her what his long experience suggested 
as of most utility for the affairs of Portugal in the East, not forget¬ 
ting also some private application for himself. The queen referred 
him to the minister, who gave him high hopes; but at the end 
of four or five years of tedious solicitation, which became more in¬ 
supportable than all his past fatigues, he concluded to content him¬ 
self with the little fortune which he had brought from India, and 
for which he was indebted to nobody but himself. Yet he piously 
and loyally concludes that if he had been no better rewarded for 
twenty-one years’ services, during which he had been thirteen times 
a slave, and seventeen times sold, it could only be attributed to the 
divine justice, which disposes of all things for the best, and rather 
to his own sins than to any want of royal discernment. He died 
about 1580, leaving his narrative behind him, which was not printed 
till 1614, and which was written, as he says at the beginning of it, 
in his old age, that he might leave it a memorial and heritage to 
his children to excite their confidence in the aid of Heaven by the 
example of his own sufferings and deliverances.* 

♦ For some further remarks on Pinto and his book, see Appendix, note D. 



CHAPTER IX. 


LOUIS ALMEIDA.-THE mSSIONARIES ESTABLISH THEMSELVES AT MIAKO. — 

LOUIS FROEZ.-PRINCES CONVERTED IN XIMO. -RISE OP NOBUNANGA. 

-PROSPERITY OF THE MISSIONS. -NOBLE AND PRINCELY CONVERTS. —r 

NAGASAKI BUILT.- NOBUNANGA MAKES HIMSELF EMPEROR. — A. D. 

1557—1577. 

The loss of Pinto and Nugnes, and even that of Father Gago, 
who, three or four years later, after a very zed,lous career as a mis» 
sionary, grew weary of the work, and obtained permission to return 
to Goa, was more than made up for by the accession of William 
and Iluys Pereyra, two of the catechists brought by Nugnes, and 
whom, before his departure, he admitted into the order, and espec¬ 
ially by that of Louis Almeida, who had arrived in Japan as sur¬ 
geon to a trading vessel, and who, after amassing a large fortune, 
gave it all to pious uses—of which a hospital for abandoned infants 
was one — and, joining the Jesuits, soon became distinguished for 
his zeal and assiduity as a missionary. 

The extension which, in the fluctuating condition of affairs, shortly 
afterwards took place of the dominions of the king of Bungo over 
the greater part of the island of Ximo, was very favorable to the 
new religion. The prince of Firando was obliged to pay him trib¬ 
ute, and, notwithstanding the double-faced policy of that prince, the 
new doctrine continued to spread in his territories, where some of 
the members of the ruling family became converts. A new church 
was planted at Facata, and the old original one at Cangoxima 
was reestablished. Presently the new faith gained a footing also 
in the kingdoms of Arima and Gotto, which, as well as Firando, 
had been dissevered from the ancient province of Figen. The lord 
of Ximabara (afterwards famous as the last stronghold of the Cath¬ 
olics) invited the missionaries to his city. The king of Arima was 


80 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1557—1577. 


also very friendly; he gave the missionaries an establishment, first 
at Vocoxiura^ and, after that city had been burned by the bonzes, at 
a port of his called Cochinotzu, on the southern coast of the south¬ 
western peninsula of Ximo. The prince of Omura, a dependency 
of Arima, and the prince of the island of Tacuxima, the same at 
which Pinto had first landed, then a dependency of Firando, were 
both among the converts, and exceedingly zealous to induce their 
subjects to follow their example; and, notwithstanding the hostil¬ 
ity of the bonzes, the frequent wars between the princes, and 
repeated internal commotions, by which the missionaries were often 
in danger, the new religion continued to spread in all parts of Ximo, 
and in fact to be carried by native coiiverts to many parts of Xipon 
which no missionary had yet reached. Meanwhile, new establish¬ 
ments also had been gained on the island of Nipon, in addition to 
that at Amanguchi, at its western extremity. The fame of the mis¬ 
sionaries had induced an old Tundi, or superior of a Buddhist mon¬ 
astery near Miako, to send to Amanguchi to ask information about 
the new religion. Father Yilela was despatched, in 1659, for his 
instruction, and though the Tundi died before the arrival of the 
missionary, his successor and many of the bonzes listened with 
respect to the words of Vilela. As none, however, were willing 
to receive baptism, he departed for Miako, where he found means 
to approach Josi Tir, the Kubo-Sama, and to obtain from him 
permission to preach. Having secured the favor of Mioxindono, 
the emperor’s principal minister, and presently that of Daxandono, 
the chief judge, he converted many bonzes and nobles, and built up 
a large and flourishing church. 

An attack upon the emperor by Morindono, king of Naugato, 
who forced the city of Miako, and set it on fire, detained Vilela 
for a while in the neighboring town of Sakai, the most commercial 
place in Japan, which seems, at that time, to have been a free city, 
as it were, with an independent government of its own; and there 
also a church was planted. But the emperor soon reestablished his 
affairs; and although, from the hostility of Morindono, the church 
at Amanguchi was very much depressed, everything went on well 
at Miako, where Vilela was joined, in 1565, by Louis Almeida, and 
by a young missionary, Louis Froez, lately arrived from Malacca. 
Of their journey from Cochinotzu to Miako, we have a detailed 



NOBUNANGA. 


81 


account in a long and very interesting letter of Almeida’s. His 
visit to Miako was only temporary. Froez remained there, and 
from him we have a long series of letters, historical and descrip¬ 
tive, as well as religious, which, for a period of thirty years follow¬ 
ing, throw great light on the history and internal condition of 
Japan. 

At this time the entire empire, since and at present so stable, 
was the scene of constant revolutions. Very shortly after Froez’s 
arrival Mioxindono and Daxandono conspired against their patron, 
dethroned him, and drove him to cut himself open, as did great 
numbers of his relatives and partisans. These nobles, liitherto 
favorable to the missionaries, now published an edict against them, 
probably to secure the favor of the bonzes; and Vilela and Froez 
were thus again driven to take refuge at Sakai, where they had 
a few converts. But the believers at Miako stood firm, and a new 
revolution soon occurred, headed by a noble called Vatondono, and 
by Nobunanga, king of Yoari, — which province adjoined the 
emperor’s special territory on the east, — a prince whose military 
prowess had already made him from a petty noble the master of 
eighteen provinces in the eastern part of Nipon. 

In 1566 Vatondono and Nobunanga proclaimed as emperor a 
brother of the late one — a bonze who had escaped from the rebels. 
Miako was regained, and the new emperor established there a. n. 
1667. All real authority remained, however, with Nobunanga, 
who showed himself very hostile to the Buddhist bonzes, they hav¬ 
ing generally taken the side of the late rebels. He even destroyed 
many of their temples, using the idols which they contained as 
materials for a new palace. He easily granted to Vatondono, who 
was himself a sort of half convert, the reestablishment of the mis¬ 
sionaries at Miako, which was soon confirmed by an imperial edict, 
issued in 1568 ; and, in spite of an attempt at interference on the 
part of the Dairi, the new religion, under the protection of Vaton¬ 
dono, who was appointed governor of Miako, soon reached a very 
flourishing condition. 

To this prosperity at Miako a strong contrast was, however, pre¬ 
sented by the state of things at Amanguchi, whence the missiona¬ 
ries were expelled by the king of Naugato, though the church there 
was still kept alive by the zeal and constancy of some of the con- 



82 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1557—1577. 


verts. In the island of Ximo the new religion continued to 
spread. Indeed, the baptized prince of Omura, not content with 
hacking idols to pieces, and refusing to join in the old national fes¬ 
tivals, wished also to prohibit all the old ceremonies, and to compel 
his subjects to adopt the new ones, — an excess of zeal which, by 
displaying the intolerant spirit of the new sect, fostered an union of 
all the old ones against it, such as at last occasioned its destruction. 

This prince had allowed certain Portuguese merchants to estab¬ 
lish themselves at Nagasaki,* then a mere fishing village, but hav¬ 
ing a capacious harbor, the port of Japan nearest to China and the 
Indies, at the head of a deep bay, opening to the west. Presently 
he built a church there, and, a. d. 1568, invited the missionaries 
to make it their head-quarters, with a promise that no religion 
but theirs should be allowed. This invitation was accepted; 
many converts flocked thither, and Nagasaki soon became a con¬ 
siderable city. Fathers de Torres and Vilela both died in 1570,t 
worn out with years and labors, the latter being succeeded as head 
of the mission by Father Cabral, sent out from Goa as vice-pro¬ 
vincial of the order, and accompanied by Father Gnecchi, who soon 
became an efficient laborer. 

Meanwhile, an insurrection in the imperial provinces, on the part 
of the old rebels, which it cost the life of Vatondono to suppress, so 
jirovoked Nobunanga that he wreaked his vengeance anew upon 
the bonzes (who had again aided the insurgents), by destroying a 
great number of their monasteries on the famous mountain of 
Jesau, and putting the inmates to death. This occurrence took 
place A. D. 1571, as the missionaries remarked, on the day of St. 
Michael, whom Xavier had named the patron saint of Japan. 
Cabral, the vice-provincial, having made a visit to Miako, was very 
graciously received by Nobunanga. Shortly after the titular Kubo- 

* This name is frequently written Nangaski, and such, according to 
Kampfer, is the pronunciation. 

t Of Father de Torres we have four letters rendered into Latin, and of 
Vilela, in the same collections, seven, giving, among other things, a pretty 
full account of his visit to and residence at Miako. For the description, 
however, of that capital, and the road to it, I prefer to rely on lay travellers, 
of whose observations, during a series of visits extending through more than 
two centuries, a full abstract will be found in subsequent chapters. 



SPREAD OF CATHOLICISM. 


83 


Sama made a vain attempt to regain the exercise of authority. 
The defeated prince was still left in possession of his title, but No- 
bunanga was thenceforth regarded as, in fact, himself the emperor. 
This was in 1573. In 1576 the church received new and im¬ 
portant accessions in Ximo. The king of Bungo, though from the 
beginning favorable to the missionaries, had, from reasons of 
policy, and through the influence of his wife, who was very hostile 
to the new religion, declined baptism; none of the courtiers had sub¬ 
mitted to it, and the converts in that kingdom had consisted as yet 
of an inferior class. But the second son of the king having taken 
the resolution to be baptized, in spite of the violent opposition of 
the queen, his mother, — who had great influence over Jocimon, the 
king’s eldest son, associated, according to a usual Japanese custom, 
in the government, — his example was followed by many persons 
of rank in the kingdom of Bungo, and even by the neighboring 
king of Arima, who died, however, shortly after, leaving his king¬ 
dom to an unbelieving successor.* 

* The following passage, from Titsingh’s Memoirs of ihe Bjogouns, may 
serve to shed some light upon the civil war raging in Japan when first 
visited by the Portuguese, and which continued down to the time of Nobu- 
nanga. “ Faka-ousi was of the family of Yos-ye, who was descended from 
Liewa-tenwo, the 56th Dairi. He divided the supreme power between his 
two sons, Yosi-nori and Moto-ousi, giving to each the government of thirty- 
three provinces. [According to Kampfer, Yosi-nori ascended the throne of the 
Kubo-Sama a. d. 1431, but he represents him as the son and successor of 
Josimitz. There is no Faka-ousi in Kampfer’s list, unless it be the same 
whom he calls Taka-udsi, and whom he makes the grandfather of Josimitz.] 
The latter, who ruled over the eastern part, was styled Kama-koura-no- 
Djogoun, and kept his court at Kama-koura, in the province of Sagami. 
Yosi-nori, to whom were allotted the western provinces, resided at Miako, 
with the title of Tchoko-no Djogoun. 

“ Faka-ousi, in dividing the empire between his two sons, was influenced 
by the expectation that, in case either of them should be attacked, his brother 
would afford him assistance. This partition, on the contrary, only served to 
arm them one against the other ; the country was involved in continual war, 
and the princes, though brothers, were engaged in frequent hostilities, which 
terminated only with the destruction of the branch of Miako.” 



CHAPTER X. 


FATHER VALIGNANI. — STATE OP THE MISSIONS.-CONVERSION AND BAPTISM 

OF THE KINO OF BUNCO.—GROWTH OF NAGASAKI.-EMBASSY TO THE 

POPE.-DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THIS E.MBASSY.-A. D. 1577—1586. 


Such was the state of things on the arrival, at the beginning 
of 1577, of Father Alexander Valignani, visitor-general of the 
Jesuit establishments in the East, and who in that capacity came to 
inspect the missions of Japan. He found there, in addition to a 
large number of native catechists, fifty-nine professed Jesuits 
(including twelve who had arrived but a short time before), 
of whom twenty-six were native Japanese; but, as only twenty- 
three of the whole number were ordained priests, it was found very 
diflficult to meet the demand for ministers qualified to baptize and 
to administer the other sacraments. Hence the visitor was the 
more convinced of the necessity of establishing a noviciate of the 
order (a project already started by Father Cabral, the vice-provin¬ 
cial), and seminaries for the education of the children of the con¬ 
verts designed for the priesthood, especially those of superior rank; 
and in his letters to the general of the order and to the Pope, 
he recommended the appointment of a bishop, so that ordination 
might be had without the necessity of going to Malacca, He also 
settled, at a general assembly of the missionaries, who met him at 
Cochinotzu, many points of discipline, and especially a difficult and 
much disputed question as to the wearing of silk garments, which, 
as being the stuff in use by all persons of consideration in Japan, 
some of the Jesuits wished to wear. The ground taken was that 
it would only be a new application of the policy, which had been 
agreed upon, of conforming as far as innocently might be to the 
customs of the country. This argument, however, had not satis¬ 
fied Father Cabral; he had prohibited the wearing of silk, which 


CONVERSION OP THE KINO OP BUNGO, 


85 


the rule of* the order did not allow j and that decision was now 
confirmed by the visitor. 

There were, however, other points upon which the vice-provin¬ 
cial and the visitor did not so well agree. Of Cabral, Charlevoix 
draws the following character—one for which many originals might 
be found : “ He was a holy professor, a great missionary, a vigilant 
and amiable superior; but he was one of those excellent persons 
who imagine themselves more clear-headed than other men, and 
who, in consequence, ask counsel of nobody but themselves; or 
rather, who believe themselves inspired, when they have once prayed 
to be so, regarding as decrees of Heaven, expressed by their mouth, 
all the resolutions which they have taken at the foot of the cross, 
where the last thing to be laid down is one’s own judgment.” Ca¬ 
bral had taken up the idea that persons of such vigorous under¬ 
standing as the Japanese must be duly held in check; and the whole 
twenty-six of them received, up to this time, into the company, and 
almost all of whom aspired to the priesthood, he strictly limited 
to such studies as would suffice to qualify them for the subordiuate 
parts of divine service. This policy Valignani did not approve; 
but when he sought to alter it, he encountered such opposition from 
Father Cabral, as to be obliged to send him off to Goa, appointing 
Father Gaspard Cuello in his place. 

Shortly after the arrival of Yalignani, the church gained a new 
and distinguished accession in Civan, king of Bungo, who, hav¬ 
ing repudiated his old pagan wife, to whom the Catholics gave the 
name of Jezebel, married a new one, and was baptized with all his 
household, taking the name of Francis, according to the custom of 
the missionaries in giving European names to their converts. There 
were even strong hopes of gaining over his eldest son and colleague, 
Joscimon, when a war broke out with the king of Satsuma, for the 
possession of the intervening kingdom of Fiunga, which resulted in 
the loss of all Civan’s conquests, and his reduction to his original 
province of Bungo, which also he was in danger of losing, — a 
change by no means favorable to the missionaries. Coehinotzu was 
ruined in this war; and the spectacle of the vicissitudes to which 
everything in Japan was exposed induced Valignani to urge upon 
the Portuguese merchants and residents to fortify Nagasaki. This 
was done in 1579, and that port became thenceforward almost the 
8 




86 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1577—158G. 


solo one resorted to by the Portuguese. Tlie converted king of 
Giotto having died, the guardian of his infant son showed himself 
hostile to the missionaries ; but this circumstance was an ad¬ 
vantage to Nagasaki, which received many fugitives from these 
islands. 

The new king of Arima being brought, by the labors of the vis¬ 
itor, to a better disposition, was baptized, and became one of the 
most zealous of the converts. Both the emperor Nobinanga and 
his three sons still continued very well disposed to the missionaries, 
allowing Father Gnecchi, who was a favorite with him, to establish 
a house, a church and a seminary, at Anzuqiaina^ his local capital, 
which he had greatly beautified, and between which and Miako he 
had caused a highway to be built, at great expense and with im¬ 
mense labor. His evident design to make his authority absolute, 
had indeed led to a league against him, which, however, proved of 
no avail, this attempt at resistance resulting in the subjection of all 
the kings of the western half of Nipon, except Morindono, of Nau- 
gato. The good service which the missionaries rendered, in per¬ 
suading the Christian princes, and the Christian vassals of the 
unconverted ones, to submit to the emperor, as their superior lord, 
caused Valignani to be very graciously received, both at Miako and 
also at Anzuqiama. 

On the visitor’s return to Ximo, the converted kings of Bungo 
and Arima, and the prince of Omura, determined to send ambassa¬ 
dors to be the bearers of their submission to the Pope. For this 
purpose two young nobles were selected, scarcely sixteen years of 
age : one, prince of Fiunga, the son of a niece of the king of Bungo, 
the other, prince of Arima, cousin of the king of Arima, and neph¬ 
ew of the prince of Oniifta. They were attended by two counsellors 
somewhat older than themselves, by Father Diego de Mesquita, as 
their preceptor and interpreter, and by a Japanese Jesuit, named 
George Loyola, and, in company with Father Valignani, they sailed 
from Nagasaki February 20th, 1582, in a Portuguese ship bound 
for Macao, now the head-quarters of the Portuguese trade to Japan. 
They arrived at Macao after a very stormy and dangerous passage 
of seventeen days; but the season of sailing for Malacca being 
past, they had to wait there six months. When at length they did 
sail, they encountered very violent storms; but at last, after twenty- 




JAPANESE EMBASSY TO THE POPE. 


87 


nine days’ passage (January 27th, 1583), they reached Malacca, 
passing, as they entered the harbor, the wreck of another richly- 
laden Portuguese vessel, which had sailed from Macao in their 
company. After resting at Malacca eight days, they embarked for 
Goa, which third voyage proved not less trying than the two others. 
Delayed by calms, they ran short of provisions and water, and by 
the ignorance of the pilot were near being run ashore on the island 
of Ceylon. They disembarked at length at Travancore, at the 
south-eastern extremity of the peninsula of India, whence they pro¬ 
ceeded by land to the neighboring port of Cochin. Here, owing to 
the unfavorable monsoon, they had to wait six months before they 
could sail for Goa, at which capital of Portuguese India they ar¬ 
rived in September. The viceroy of the Indies received them with 
great hospitality, and furnished them with a good ship, in which 
they had a favorable passage round the Cape of Good Hope, arriv¬ 
ing at Lisbon August 10th, 1584. 

Pour years before, Portugal had passed under the rule of Philip 
II., of Spain, who had thus united on his single head the crowns of 
both the East and the West Indies; and to him these ambassadors 
were charged with a friendly message. The viceroy of Portugal 
received them at Lisbon with every attention. At Madrid they 
were received by Philip II. himself with the greatest marks of 
distinction. Having traversed Spain, they embarked at Alicante, 
but were driven by a storm into the island of Majorca, thereby 
escaping an Algerine fleet and a Turkish squadron, both of which 
were cruising in that neighborhood. Sailing thence they landed at 
Leghorn, where Pierro de Medici, brother of the grand duke of 
Tuscany, was waiting to attend them. They spent the carnival at 
Pisa, and thence by Florence proceeded towards Rome. 

Aquiviva, general of the Jesuits (the fourth successor of Loyola), 
was very pressing with the Pope for a reception without display; 
but Gregory XIII. (the same to whom we owe the reform of the 
calendar) had determined in consistory that the honor of the church 
and of the holy see required a different course. The ambassadors 
were met at Viterbo by the Pope’s light horse, and were escorted 
into the city by a long cavalcade of Roman nobles. The whole ot 
the corso up to Jesus, the church and house of the Jesuits, where 
the ambassadors were to lodge, was crowded with people, who 



88 


JAPAN. — A. D. ir.77—1586. 


greeted their arrival with deafening shouts. As they alighted from 
their carriage, they were received by Father Aquiviva, attended 
by all the Jesuits then at Kome, who conducted them to the church, 
where Te Deum was chanted. 

The next day a magnificent procession was formed to escort them 
to the A'^atican. It was headed by the light horse, followed by the 
Pope’s Swiss guard, the ofl&cers of the cardinals, the carriages of the 
ambassadors of Spain, France, Venice, and the Roman princes, the 
whole Roman nobility on horseback, the pages and officers of the 
ambassadors, with trumpets and cymbals, the chamberlains of the 
Pope, and the ofiicers of the palace, all in red robes. Then followed 
the Japanese on horseback, in their national dress,* three silken 
gowns of a light fabric, one over the other, of a white ground, splen¬ 
didly embroidered with fruits, leaves and birds. In their girdles 
they wore the two swords, symbols of Japanese gentility. Their 
heads, shaven, except the hair round the ears and neck, which was 
gathered into a cue bent upwards, had no covering. Their features 
were hardly less divergent from the European standard than their 
dress, yet their whole expression, air and manner, modest and ami¬ 
able, but with a conscious sentiment of nobility, was such as im¬ 
pressed the bystanders very favorably. The prince of Fiunga came 
first, between two archbishops. The prince of Arima followed, 
between two bishops. Of their counsellors, one was kept away by 
sickness, the other followed between two nobles, and after him 
Father de Mesquita, the interpreter, also on horseback. A great 
number of richly-dressed courtiers closed the procession. The 
crowds, which filled the streets and the windows, looked on in 
almost breathless silence. As the ambassadors crossed the bridge 
of St. Angelo, all the cannon of the castle were fired, to which 
those of the Vatican responded, at which signal all the bands 
struck up, and continued to play till the hall of audience was 
reached. 

The ambassadors approached the foot of the papal throne, each 
with the letter of his prince in his hand. Prostrating themselves 
at the Pope’s feet, they declared in Japanese, in a voice loud and 
distinct, that they had come from the extremities of the earth to 


* For a particular description of the dress of the Japanese, see chap. xli. 




LETTER OF THE KING OF BUNGO. 


89 


acknowledge in the person of the Pope the vicar of Jesus Christ, 
and to render obedience to him in the name of the princes of whom 
they were the envoys, and also for themselves. The Father de 
Mesquita expressed in Latin what they had said ; but the appear¬ 
ance of the young men themselves, who had essayed so many dangers 
and fatigues to come to pay their homage to the holy see, was more 
expressive than any words; and it drevr tears and sobs from the 
greater part of the audience. The Pope himself, greatly agitated, 
hastened to raise them up, kissed their foreheads, and embraced 
them many times, dropping tears upon them. They vrere then con¬ 
ducted to an alcove, while the secretary of the consistory read the 
letters from the Japanese princes, which Father de Mesquita had 
translated into Italian, -and of which the following may serve as a 
specimen: 

“ LETTER OF THE KING OF BUNGO, 

“ To him who ought to be adored^ and who holds the place of the king of 
heaven^ the great and most holy Pope. 

“ Full of confidence in the grace of the supreme and almighty Gad, I 
■write, with all possible submission, to your Holiness. The Lord, who governs 
heaven and earth, who holds under his empire the sun and all the celestial 
host, has made his light to shine upon one who was plunged in ignorance and 
buried in deep darkness. It is more than thirty years since this sovereign 
Master of nature, displaying all the treasures of his pity in fixvor of the 
inhabitants of these countries, sent thither the fathers of the Company of 
Jesus, who have sowed the seed of the divine Word in these kingdoms of 
Japan ; and he has pleased, in his infinite bounty, to cause a part of it to fall 
into my heart: singular mercy, for which I think myself indebted, most 
holy Father of all the faithful, as well to the prayers and merits of your 
Holiness as to those of many others. If the wars which I have had to sus¬ 
tain, mj’^ old age and my infirmities, had not prevented me, I should myself 
have visited the holy places where you dwell, to render in person the obe¬ 
dience which I owe you. I would have devotedly kissed the feet of your 
Holiness, I would have placed them on my head, and would have besought 
you to make with your sacred hand the august sign of the cross on my heart. 
Constrained, by the reasons I have mentioned, to deprive myself of a consola¬ 
tion so sweet, I did design to send in my place Jerome, son of the king of 
Fiunga, and my grand-son ; but as he was too far distant from my court 
and as the father-visitor could not delay his departure, I have substituted 
for him Mancio, his cousin and my great nephew. 

“ I shall be infinitely obliged if your Holiness, holding upon earth the place 
of God himself, shall continue to shed your favor upon me, upon all Christians, 

8 * 



90 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1577—1586. 


and especially upon this little portion of the flock committed to your care. 
I have received from the hand of the father-visitor the reliquary with which 
your Holiness honored me, and I have placed it on my head with much 
respect. I have no words in which to express the gratitude with which I am 
penetrated for a gift so precious. I will add no more, as the father-visitor 
and my ambassador will more fully inform your Holiness as to all that 
regards my person and my realm. I truly adore you, most holy Father, and I 
write this to you trembling with respectful fear. The 11th day of January, 
in the year of our Lord 1582. Francis, King of Bungo, 

prostrate at the foot of your Holiness.” 

The reading of this and of the other letters, translated into Italian, 
was followed by a Discourse on Obedience, pronounced, in the name 
of the princes and the ambassadors, by Father Graspard Gonzales, 
a model of rhetorical elegance and comprehensive brevity — what¬ 
ever may be thought of its ethical or theological doctrines — which 
some of the long-winded speakers of the present day, both lay and 
clerical, would do well to imitate. We give, as a specimen, a pas¬ 
sage from the beginning: 

“ Nature has separated Japan from the countries in which we now are, by 
such an extent of land and sea, that, before the present age, there were very 
few persons who had any knowledge of it; and even now there are those who 
find it difficult to believe the accounts of it which we give. It is certain, 
nevertheless, most holy Father, that there are several Japanese islands, of a 
vast extent, and in these islands numerous fine cities, the inhabitants of 
which have a keen understanding, noble and courageous hearts, and obliging 
dispositions, politeness of manners, and inclinations disposed towai’ds that 
which is good. Those who have known them have decidedly preferred them 
to all the other people of Asia, and it is only their lack of the true religion 
which prevents them from competing with the nations of Europe. 

“ For some years past this religion has been preached to them, under the 
authority of the holy see, by apostolical missionaries. Its commencements 
were small, as in the case of the primitive church ; but God having given 
his blessing to this evangelical seed, it took root in the hearts of the nobles, 
and of late, under the pontificate of your Holiness, it has been received by 
the greatest lords, the princes and kings of Japan. This, most holy Father, 
ought to console you, for many reasons ; but principally because, laboring as 
you do with an indefatigable zeal and vigor to reestablish a religion, shaken 
and almost destroyed by the new heresies here in Europe, you see it take root 
and make great progress in the most distant country of the world. 

“ Hitherto your Holiness has heard, and with great pleasure, of the abun¬ 
dant fruits borne by this vine newly planted, with so much labor, at the 
extremities of the earth. Now you may see, touch, taste them, in this august 



DISCOURSE ON OBEDIENCE. 


91 


assembly, and impart of them to all the faithful. What joy ought not all 
Christians to feel, and especially the Roman people, at seeing the ambassa¬ 
dors of such great princes come from the ends of the earth to prostrate 

themselves at the feet of your Holiness, through a pure motive of religion,_ 

a thing which has never happened in any age ! What satisfaction for them 
to see the most generous and valiant kings of the East, conquered by the 
arms of the faith and by the preaching of the gospel, submitting themselves 
to the empire of Jesus Christ, and, as they'cannot, from their avocations, 
come in person to take the oath of obedience and fidelity to the holy see, 
acquitting themselves of this duty by ambassadors so nearly related to them, 
and whom they so tenderly love ! ” 

In the following passage the orator alludes more at length to the 
revolt in Europe against the authority of the Pope, which Philip 
II., no less than the Pope, was at this moment vigorously laboring 
to put down, by the recent introduction of the Jesuits into the 
Netherlands, where the Protestant rebels had been suppressed, 
by war against Holland, by aiding the French leaguers, by coun¬ 
tenancing the retrograde movement then in rapid progress in Ger¬ 
many, and by preparing to carry out against Elizabeth of England 
the sentence of deposition which the Pope had fulminated against 
her. 

“ 0, immortal God ! What a stroke of thine arm ! What an effect of 
thy grace ! In places so distant from the holy see, where the name of Jesus 
had never been heard, nor his gospel ever preached, as soon as the true 
faith shed there the first rays of the truth, men of temperaments quite dif¬ 
ferent from ours, kings illustrious by their nobility, redoubtable for their 
power, happy in the abundance of their possessions, conquerors and warriors 
signalized by their victories, acknowledge the greatness and dignity of the 
Roman church, and hold it a great honor to kiss the feet of the church’s 
head by the lips of persons infinitely dear to them ; all this happens while 
we see men at our very gates blind and impious enough to wish to cut off 
with a parricidal hand the head of the mystic body of Jesus Christ, and to 
call in doubt, to their own ruin, the authority of the holy see, established by 
Jesus Christ himself, confirmed by the course of so many ages, defended by 
the writings of so many holy doctors, recognized and approved by so many 
councils ! 

“ But it is not proper that I should give way to grief, or trouble the joys 
of this day by the recollection of our miseries ! ’ 

To this address, on behalf of the Japanese princes and their 
ambassadors. Monseigneur Antony Hocapaduli replied in Latin, in 
the Pope’s name, as follows : 





92 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1577—15S6. 


“ His holiness commands me, most noble lords, to say to you that Dom 
Francis, king of Bungo, Dom Protais, king of Arima, and Dom Barthelemi, 
prince of Omura, have acted like wise and religious princes in sending you 
from the extremities of Asia to acknowledge the power with which God’s 
bounty hath clothed him on the earth, since there is but one foith, one church 
universal, and but a single chief and supreme pastor, whose authority ex¬ 
tends to all parts of the earth where there are Christians, which pastor and 
only head is the bishop of Borne, the successor of St. Peter. He is charmed 
to see that they believe firmly and profess aloud this truth, with all the other 
articles that compose the Catholic faith. He gives ceaseless thanks to the 
divine goodness which has wrought these marvels ; and this joy appears to 
him so much the more legitimate, as it has its foundation in the zeal by 
which he is animated for the glory of the Almighty, and the 'salvation of 
souls which the incarnate Word has purchased with his blood. This is why 
this venerable pontiff and all the sacred college of the cardinals of the Roman 
church receive, with a truly paternal affection, the protestation which you 
make to the vicar of Jesus Christ of faith, filial devotion and obedience, on 
the part of the princes whom you represent. His holiness earnestly desires 
and prays to God that all the kings and princes of Japan, and all those who 
rule in other parts of the world, may imitate so good an example, may re¬ 
nounce their idols and all their errors, may adore in spirit and in truth 
the sovereign Lord^ho has created this universe, and his only son, Jesus 
Christ, whom he has sent into the world ; since it is in this knowledge and 
this faith that eternal life consists.” 

This reply finished, the ambassadors were conducted around to 
the foot of the throne, and again kissed the feet of the Pope; after 
which the cardinals, drawing near, embraced them, and put to them 
many questions as to their travels and the rarities of their comitry: 
questions to which they replied with so much sense and acuteness 
as to cause no little admiration. 

At length the Pope rose, exclaiming. Nunc dimittis servum tuum 
Bomine (which might by a pious Catholic be taken as a proph¬ 
ecy of his approaching death). The two chief ambassadors, who 
were of the blood royal, were directed to lift up the train of his 
robes, — an honor monopolized, as far as the princes of Europe 
were concerned, by the ambassador of the emperor. The holy father 
having been thus conducted to his apartment, the cardinal St. Six¬ 
tus, his nephew, the cardinal Guastavillani and the duke of Sora, 
entertained the Japanese at a magnificent dinner. A private audi¬ 
ence followed, in which the ambassadors delivered the presents they 
had brought, and the Pope announced that he had endowed the 




LETTERS FROM THE POPE. 


93 


proposed new seminary at Fucheo with an annual dotation of four 
thousand Roman crowns. 

Gregory XIII. died a few days after ; * but his successor, Sixtus 
y., who, as cardinal of Monte Alto, had taken greatly to the 
Japanese, was not less favorable to them as Pope. They assisted, 
among the other ambassadors of kings, at his coronation, bearing 
the canopy and holding the basin for his Holiness to wash in when 
he said mass. They had the same honors when the pontijff was 
enthroned at Saint John Lateran. The holy father afterwards 
invited them to visit his country-house, where they were splendidly 
entertained and regaled on his behalf by his steward and four-and- 
twenty prelates. 

Finally, on the eve of the Ascension, in the presence of all the 
Roman nobility, they were dubbed knights of the gilded spurs. 
The Pope himself girded on their swords, while the spurs of the 
two princes were buckled on by the ambassadors of France and 
yenice, and those of the two others by the Marquis Altemps; after 
which the Pope placed about their necks chains of gold, to which 
his medal was attached, and kissed and embraced them. The next 
day his Holiness said mass in person, and they communicated from 
his hand. He dismissed them with briefs, addressed to their princes, 
of which the following may serve as a sample: 

“BEIEF OF POPE SIXTUS V. TO THE KING OF ARIMA. 

“ JSToble prince and our well-beloved son, salvation and apostolical bene- 

, diction. 

“ Our well-beloved son Dom Michael, your ambassador to this court, deliv¬ 
ered to Pope Gregory XIII., our predecessor, of holy and happy memory, now, 
as we must presume, in glory, the letters with which your majesty had 
charged him ; and after these letters had been publicly read, he rendered to 
that pontiff the obedience due to the vicar of Jesus Christ, and which all 
Catholic kings are accustomed to render to him. This was done in presence 
of all the cardinals of the holy church, then assembled at Rome, of which 
number we were. A greater concourse of persons of all conditions, and a 
greater public joy, had never been seen. Shortly after, it having pleased God 
to charge us, without our having in the least merited it, with the government 
of his church, we have also received with entirely paternal tenderness the 

* His reception of the Japanese and his reformation of the calendar are 
both recorded together in his epitaph. 




94 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1577—1586. 


same duties of obedience "which Dom Michael has I’enewed to us, in the name 
of your majesty ; whereupon we liave thought proper to add you to the number 
of our very dear children, the Catholic kings of the holy church. A^e ha^e 
seen, with much joy and satisfaction, the testimonies of your piety and re¬ 
ligion ; and, to give you the means of increasing these in your heart, we ha^e 
sent you, by your before-named ambassador, inclosed in a cross of gold, a 
piece of the cross to which was nailed .Jesus Christ, King of kings and eter¬ 
nal Priest, who, by the effusion of his blood, has made us also kings and 
priests of the living God. We send you, also, a sword and hat, which we 
have blessed, such as it is the custom of the Roman pontiff’ to send to all the 
Catholic kings, and we pray the Lord to be the support of your majesty in 
all your enterprises. According to the usage in the courts of the kings of 
Europe, the sword and hat should be received at the end of a mass, to which 
we shall attach a plenary indulgence for all sins for the benefit of all who 
may assist thereat, and who, after having confessed themselves, shall pray 
for the tranquillity of the Catholic church, the salvation of the Christian 
princes, and the extirpation of heresies — provided they have a true confidence 
in the divine mercy, in the power which has been given to the holy apostles 
Peter and Paul, and in that with which we are clothed. Given at Rome, at 
St. Peter’s, under the seal of the fisherman,” &c. 

From Eome, escorted out of the city with all honors, the ambassa¬ 
dors went by way of Loretto, where they paid their devotions, to 
Venice, and thence to Milan and Genoa, at which latter place 
they embarked for Barcelona. They declined, as they had been so 
long from home, a pressing in-vdtation from Henry III. to visit 
France, and, after a new audience with Philip II., they hastened to 
sail from Lisbon on their return voyage, embarking April 13th, 
1586.* 

* The Letters, Briefs, and the Discourse on Obedience, above quoted, may be 
found at length in Latin, in the very valuable and rich collection. Be Rebus Ja- 
ponicis Indicis and Peruvianis Epistolce Recentiores, edited by John Hay, 
of Dalgetty, a Scotch Jesuit, and a sharp controversialist, published in 1605 ; 
in Spanish, in Father Luys de Gusman’s Historia de los Missiones, que 
han hecho los Religioses de la Compania de Jesus, ^c., published in 1601, 
of which the larger part is devoted to the Japanese mission ; in Italian, in 
Father Daniel Batoli’s Historia dela Compagnia de Gesu; and in French, in 
Charlevoix’s Histoire du Japon. An Italian history of the mission was printed 
at Rome, 1585, —the same, I suppose, of which a Latin translation is given 
in Hay’s .collection ; and a still rarer and more valuable one at Macao, in 
1590, of which a further account will be found in a note at the end of the 
next chapter. 




CHAPTER XI. 


EVENTS MEANWHILE IN JAPAN. — DOWNFALL OF NOBUNANGA.-ACCESSION OP 

FAXIBA, AFTERWARDS KNOWN AS CAMBDCUNDONO, AND, FINALLY, AS TAIKO- 

SAMA. — EDICT AGAINST THE JESUITS.-RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS.- 

A. D. 1582—1586. 

While the ambassadors were on their way to Europe, great 
changes had taken place in the Japanese islands. A few months after 
they had sailed from Nagasaki, Aquichi, a favorite general of No- 
bunanga’s, had marched from Miakotojoin Faxiba, another favorite 
general, employed in prosecuting the war against Naugato. The stern 
severity of Nobunanga had rendered him very unpopular, of which 
Aquichi took advantage to turn about and attack him, left as he 
was at Miako almost without troops. Nobunanga, thus betrayed 
and surprised, having no other resource, set fire to his palace, and 
perished in it, June 15, 1580, with his eldest son. His second son, 
overwhelmed by this disaster, went mad, and in that condition set 
fire to his father’s patrimonial palace at Anzuquiama, thus kindling 
a conflagration which consumed almost the entire city, including a 
splendid temple, which Nobunanga had lately erected there, and in 
which, suspending all other worship by edict, he had required divine 
honors to be paid to a stone graven with his arms * and other 
devices. To the missionaries, who had all along counted upon 
making a convert of Nobunanga, this step had caused no less horror 
than surprise ; and they found in it a ready explanation of the sud¬ 
den ruin which had overtaken himself and his family, especially as 
his eldest son had been the first to pay the required worship. 

* The princes and nobles of Japan, and indeed most private individuals, 
have certain devices embroidered on their gowns, &c., which the Portuguese 
and the missionaries compared to the armorial bearings of Europe. 




i’. V ' 


96 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1582—1588, 


Aquichi now aspired to succeed the master he had betrayed and 
overthrown; but he was defeated by Ucondono, another general, a 
nephew of the Vatadono, who had played so conspicuous a part in 
previous revolutions, and a convert to the Catholic faith, who united 
with Faxiba to revenge their master’s death, the latter marching 
upon Miako in the name of the late emperor’s third son, whom he 
proclaimed as Kubo-Sama, reserving, however, to himself all real 
authority; and thus again was Japan, as during part of Nobunanga’s 
reign, furnished with two “ idle kings,”—a Dairi and a titular 
Kubo-Sama,— while the real power was in the hands of a third party. 

Faxiba’s own very humble birth made him the more willing to 
begin, at first, with ruling in the name of another. Origin¬ 
ally he was but a mere private soldier, who, having attracted 
the attention of Nobunanga, as well by his wit and drollery as 
by his courage and sagacity, had been gradually raised by him 
to the highest commands. This founder of the Japanese imperial 
authority, as it now exists, is described as having been short, but 
quite fat, and exceedingly strong, with six fingers on each hand, 
and something frightful in his face, his eyes protruding in a 
strange manner. It was he who completed what Nobunanga 
had begun, and who first gave to Japan, at least in modern times, 
a real and effective emperor, ruling supreme over the whole 
territory. 

The son of Nobunanga, being restless under the humiliation to 
which he was reduced, was deprived of his place as Kubo-Sama, and 
obliged to be satisfied with the island of Sikokf, the smaller of the 
three larger Japanese islands which his father had assigned him as an 
appanage, while Faxiba declared himself the guardian of an infant 
child of Nobunanga’s eldest son, whom he set up as titular Kubo- 
Sama. 

He showed at first the same favor to the Catholics as his prede¬ 
cessor had done, and the more so as Ucondono, his confederate 
against the rebel Aquichi, was himself a convert, as were others of 
his great vassals and principal officers of his court and army. 

As the son of Nobunanga could not keep quiet, he was presently 
stripped of all authority, though his life was spared, and Faxiba, 
assuming to himself the high title ofKambakundono, strengthened 
himself still further by marrying a daughter of the Dairi. 





PERSECUTION COiMMENCED. 


97 


Desirous to outdo his predecessor in everything, he converted 
Osaka, which had, till lately subdued by Nobunanga, been under 
the rule of a bonze, into a great city, and he built in its neighbor¬ 
hood a great stone castle. To this city, made his capital, the Jesuit 
seminary, originally established in the now ruined Anzuquiama, was 
removed, another being also set up in the neighboring city of Sakai. 
The king of Naugato was even induced to allow the reintroduction of 
missionaries into his territories. The king of Bungo having appealed 
to Faxiba for aid against his neighbors, the converted general Con- 
dera, the chief commander of his cavalry, whom he sent to Ximo, 
not only rescued the young king Joscimon from his enemies, the 
kings of Chicugen and Saxuma, who had taken his capital, and 
ravaged his territories, but succeeded also in bringing up to the point 
of baptism that fickle and inconstant prince, who had long been a 
great trial to the missionaries, as well as to his pious father, Civan, 
who, having given up to him the reins of government, had been treated 
thenceforth with very little respect. The result of this interference 
also was to reduce the whole of Ximo to the power of the emperor, 
who now reigned supreme over Ximo, Sikokf, and all the western 
part of Nipon, though still obliged to pay a certain deference and 
respect to the pretensions and power of the local kings and princes, 
Vv’hom, however, he required to be frequent attendants on his court, 
and to leave their wives and children there as hostages, and whose 
authority and consequence he sought by all means to diminish. 

Peace thus reestablished, everything seemed to favor the spread 
of Catholicity, when, all of a sudden, and in the most unexpected 
manner, in the month of July, 1587, the emperor signed an order 
for the banishment of the missionaries; and because Ucondono 
would not renounce his religion (at least such was the ostensible 
cause), stripped him at once of his place and his property. Father 
Cuello, the vice-provincial, was ordered to assemble all the mission¬ 
aries at Firando; and, in obedience to this order, they collected 
there to the number of about one hundred and twenty, only Father 
Gnecchi remaining concealed at Osaka, and one brother in Bungo. 
But when the emperor commanded them to embark on board a 
Portuguese vessel about to sail, they resolved not to qbey. A few 
indeed went on board and sailed for China; but the greater part 
remained, a message being sent to the emperor that the vessel could 
9 







98 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1582—1588. 


not carry the others; to which he responded by ordering all the 
churches in Miako, Osaka and Sakai, to be destroyed. The con¬ 
verted princes, however, in general, stood firm, except Joscinion, 
king of Bungo; and even the unconverted ones are said to have 
protested against the emperor’s edict as in violation of the freedom 
of religious opinion heretofore allowed. The missionaries, in dis¬ 
guise, were distributed through the territories of their adherents. 
The emperor’s grand admiral, Tsucamidono, who was viceroy of 
Ximo, though himself a convert, still kept the confidence of the 
emperor, as did also Condera, the chief commander of his cavalry. 
The Portuguese merchants were admitted as before. After a little 
while the emperor seemed disposed to wink at the conduct of the 
converted princes, and the missionaries soon began to conceive 
hopes that, by caution on their part, the work of conversion might 
still go on, the stimulus of a prohibition not very strictly enforced, 
more than supplying all the benefits hitherto derived from the eclat 
of imperial favor. 

Some difSculty about obtaining recruits for the imperial seraglio, 
especially from the province of Figin, celebrated for its handsome ^ 
women, but in which the converts were numerous, was said to have 
provoked the emperor, in a fit of drunken fury, to put forth so sud¬ 
denly his edict of persecution. But, in fact, his policy brooked no 
power but his own. He did not fancy a religion which taught his 
subjects to look up with implicit reverence to a distant and foreign 
potentate; nor probably was his hostility to the Jesuits much dif¬ 
ferent in substance from that sentiment which had caused Henry 
VIIL, of England, fifty years earlier, to break with the holy see, 
— a breach also ascribed by the Catholics to amorous passion. 

But the cautious and artful emperor, who, however he might 
give way to sudden fits of violence and caprice, w^as d perfect 
master of all the arts of dissimulation, knowing, as well as Bona¬ 
parte, if not better, how to wait till the pear was ripe, was not yet 
wholly prepared to break with the converted kings and nobles, 
whom he found, perhaps, as well as the humbler converts, more 
attached to their fixith than he had supposed. There were too many 
infiammable‘materials in his yet unconsolidated empire, for him to 
run the risk of provoking a rebellion ; and, besides, there still re¬ 
mained to be subdued eight independent provinces in the east and 




RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS. 


99 


north of Nipon, including a kingdom of five provinces, in which 
were situated the great cities of Suruga and Jedo. 

The conquest of this kingdom was speedily achieved, partly by 
arts and partly by arms. A new palace was erected for the Dairi, in 
place of the old one, which had been burnt during the late troubles 
at Miako. A splendid temple had also been built near that city, 
in which it was suspected that the emperor intended to cause him¬ 
self to be worshipped, as his predecessor had done; when, in August, 
1588, Father Valignani, appointed ambassador to the emperor and 
kings of Japan, from the Portuguese viceroy of Goa, arrived at 
Macao, on his way to Nagasaki, having in his company the return¬ 
ing ambassadors to the Pope, who had touched at Goa on their way 
home, and who had stopped there a whole year before proceeding 
for Japan.* 

* During this residence at Macao the Japanese ambassadors were not idle. 
They were engaged upon a very remarkable work, printed at Macao in 
1590 in Japanese and Latin, purporting to be composed by the ambassadors, 
and giving, by way of dialogue, an account not only of the embassy, but of 
Japan and of all the countries, European and Oriental, which they had vis¬ 
ited. The Latin title is De Missione Legatorum Japonemium ad Romanam 
curiam, rebusque in Europaac toto in itinere animadversis, Dialogus, ^c .— 
“ A Dialogue concerning the Japanese Embassy to the Court of Rome, and the 
things observed in Europe and on the whole journey, collected from the journal 
of the ambassadors, and rendered into Latin by Ed. de Laude, priest of the 
Society of Jesus.” It is from this work, though he does not give the title of 
it, that Hackluyt extracted the “ Excellent Treatise of the Kingdom of China 
and of the Estate and Government thereof,” contained in his second volume, 
and of which he speaks in his epistle dedicatory to that volume, first published 
in 1599, as “ the most exact account of those parts that is yet come to 
light.” “ It was printed,” he tells n^, ** in Latin, in Makoa, a city of China, 
in China paper, in the year 1590, and was intercepted in. the great carac 
Madre de Dios, two yeai*s after, enclosed in a case of sweet cedar wood, 
and lapped up almost a hundred fold in fine Calicut cloth, as though it had 
been some incomparable jewel.” 






e 


CHAPTER XII. 

RECAPITULATIOX.-EXTENT OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE.-VALIGNANI AR¬ 

RIVES AT NAGASAKI. — PROGRESS HITHERTO OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH. — 
THE emperor’s PROJECTS AGAINST CHINA. — VALIGNANi’S VISIT TO THE 
EMPEROR AT MIAKO.-UCONUONO.—-THE RETURNED JAPANESE AMBASSA¬ 
DORS.-AUDIENCE GIVEN TO VALIGNANI.-THE VICEROY’S LETTER. — THE 

INTERPRETER RODRIGUEZ.-A. D. 1588—1593. 

The Japanese islands had been found by Xavier and his suc¬ 
cessors divided into numerous principalities, which, though they 
acknowledged a nominal subordination to one imperial head, were 
substantially independent, and engaged in perpetual wars with each 
other. The superior abilities of two successive military usurpers, 
Nobunanga, who ruled from 1567 to 1582, and Faxiba, who took 
first the title of Kambacundono, and subsequently that of Taiko- 
Sama, had consolidated these numerous states into a real empire, 
embracing then as now the three principal islands of Nipon, 
XiMO (or Kiusiu), and Sikoke, with many smaller ones, and some 
claims also of authority over parts, at least, of the large northerly 
island of Matsmai or Jeso, the latter the aboriginal name. 

Among the dependencies, at present, of the Japanese empire, 
are reckoned at the north, besides this island, the southern half of 
the large island or peninsula of Sagaleen, called by the Japanese 
Oke Jeso (upper Jeso), or, as Siebold says, Kkafto, and the three 
smaller Kurile islands, Kona Shir, Eetoorpoo, and Ooroop, num¬ 
bered on the Kussian charts as the 20th, 19th and 18th Kurile 
islands, and the two latter called by the Dutch State’s Island and 
Company’s Island. On the south, the Lew Chew Islands form, or 
did form (for the Japanese seem lately to have renounced their 
claim of sovereignty), a dependency of the kingdom of Satsuma. 
But all these are of comparatively recent acquisition, subsequent 


EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE. 


101 


to the accession of Faxiba. It is said, indeed, on Japanese author- 
itj, that Jeso was first invaded in 1443, by the Japanese family of 
Matsmai; but it is apparent from missionary letters, that, in 1620, 
it was a recent settlement. The Japanese annals date the conquest 
,^of the Lew Chew Islands from the year 1610 ; and, according to 
Golownin, the Japanese settlements on Sagaleen have been subse¬ 
quent to the voyage of La Perouse in 1787. 

Of Nipon, at least equal in extent to Great Britain, and with 
a population nearer, it would seem, to that of Great Britain now 
than to what that island could boast in the reign of Elizabeth, the 
missionaries were as yet acquainted only with the south-western 
part — their establishments being confined to the kingdom of Nau- 
gato, at its western extremity, where it is separated from Ximo by 
a narrow strait, and to the great cities of Miako, Osaka and 
Sakai, situated towards the middle of the southern coast. Many 
princes, nobles and large landed proprietors, had fallen under the 
influence of the Jesuits, and had professed the new faith; but it 
does not appear that either in Nipon or in the adjoining island of 
Sikokf .(about equal in extent to Sicily), any considerable progress 
had been made in converting the rural population. It was in the 
island of Ximo, the westernmost in situation and the second in size 
(two thirds as large as Ireland), that the new religion had taken 
the firmest root. The kingdom of Bungo, indeed almost the whole 
of the eastern portion of that island, was thoroughly indoctrinated 
with the new faith; and such was still more the case with the 
kingdom of Arima and the principality of Omura, embracing that 
great south-western peninsula itself, divided into three smaller pen¬ 
insulas by two deep bays, one opening to the south, and the other 
to the west, at the head of the latter of which is situated the city 
of Nagasaki. 

Founded in 1579 by converts to the new faith, and made the 
centre of the Portuguese trade to Japan, as well as of the Jesuit 
missions, Nagasaki had grown up with great rapidity; nor was 
any other worship practised in it except that of the new religion. 
It had become the largest and most important town in Ximo ; and, 
since the recent subjection of that island to the imperial authority, 
according to the new policy of weakening the local princes, the 
emperor had assumed the appointment of its governor. Nagasaki 

9 * 




102 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1588—1593. 


being placed, along with Miako, Osaka and Sakai, in the list of 
imperial towns. 

At the date of the edict, so unexpectedly issued in 1787, for the 
banishment of the Jesuits, there were in Japan three hundred 
members of the company, a novitiate, a college, two preparatory 
seminaries for the education of young nobles designed for the church, 
two hundred and fifty churches, and a number of converts, amount¬ 
ing, probably, to between two and three hundred thousand, though, 
the estimate of the Jesuits was much larger. Notwithstanding the 
apostasy of Joscimon, the young king of Bungo (whose father, 
Civan, had died just before the emperor’s edict had appeared), the 
numerous converts in that kingdom remained firm in the faith. 
That zealous Catholic, the prince of Omura, had also lately deceased ; 
but the young prince, his only son and successor, who had been 
educated by the Jesuits, was hardly less zealous than his father 
had been. The king of Arima also continued steady in the faith, 
It was this king who, along with the deceased king of Bungo and 
the deceased prince of Omura, had sent the ambassadors to the 
Pope, of whose visit to Europe an account has been given in a pre¬ 
ceding chapter, and whom the last chapter left at Macao, on their 
return to Japan, in company with Father Valignani, who had been 
deputed by the viceroy of Goa as his ambassador to the emperor. 

It was at Macao that Valignani and his companions learned 
the news of the edict for the banishment of the Jesuits. It 
was said at Macao that the emperor w'as a good deal mollified, 
and seemed inclined to wink at the general disregard of his edict, 
yet as Valignani was himself a Jesuit, and had once already visited 
Japan in that character, he did not judge it best to proceed to 
Japan till he had first obtained express permission to do so. On 
the representations of the Christian princes, who put forward Valig- 
nani’s character as ambassador, the emperor readily consented to 
receive him; and, accompanied by the returning Japanese envoys 
and some twenty Jesuits, he landed at Nagasaki, in June, 1590, 
where he was received with great affection by the converted 
princes of Xirao, and by Father Gomez, who, on the death of 
Cuello, had succeeded to the post of vice-provincial. The emperor, 
in the late re-distribution of the kingdoms of that island, had liber¬ 
ally provided for Tsucamidono, the grand admiral, and for Condera, 



CLERICAL FORCE OF THE JESUITS. 


103 


his general of horse, both of whom, notwithstanding their con¬ 
tinued adhesion to the new faith, still retained his favor. To 
Tsucamidono he had given the kingdom of Fingo, and to Condera 
that of Buygen, so tTTht almost the whole of the island of Ximo 
was now ruled by converted princes. Even the changeable Joscimon, 
not finding his apostasy so advantageous as he had expected, soon 
sought and presently obtained a reconciliation to the church. The 
king of Firando was not friendly, but he was kept in check by the 
number of converts among his subjects, especially by a very zeal¬ 
ous converted wife, a sister of the prince of Omura — whom he 
complained of as having more influence over his kingdom than him¬ 
self — and also by his fear of driving off the Portuguese merchants, 
who still occasionally visited his island. 

Notwithstanding the emperor’s edict of expulsion, there still 
remained in Japan a hundred and forty Jesuits, including those lately 
brought by Valignani. The seminary of nobles at Osaka had been 
broken up, most of the pupils retiring with their teachers; but 
the other seminary in the kingdom of Arima was still maintained, 
being, for greater security, removed to a retired spot surrounded 
with woods. The college and novitiate, for similar reasons, 
were transferred to the island of Arnakusa. Besides these, the 
Jesuits had twenty other houses of residence. Those districts in 
which the missionaries had no settled establishments they supplied 
by frequent journeys, which they made secretly, and generally in 
disguise, being assisted also by a great number of adroit and zeal¬ 
ous native catechists, who not only maintained the fervor of the 
old converts, but daily added new ones to the number. This em¬ 
ployment of catechist was held in great honor in the church of 
Japan. None were admitted into it except persons of approved 
virtue, generally young men of family and promise, devoted by 
their parents from their infancy to a service upon which they 
entered for life, being ordained with much ceremony, and wearing 
a garb similar to that of the missionaries with whom they lived in 
community, observing the same rules. Conversions still continued 
to be made among the upper as well as among the lower classes, 
and the numerous adherents to the new faith, or favorers of it, in 
the court and household of the emperor, including even the em¬ 
press, carefully watched and reported to the missionaries every 



104 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1588—1593. 


word or hint drppped by him, from which his disposition and 
intentions might be conjectured. 

At this moment the emperor’s thoughts seemed a good deal 
withdrawn from domestic affairs, being engrossed by a war, which 
lie had determined to commence by invading Corea, a dependency 
of the Chinese empire, and the part of the continent of Asia near¬ 
est to Japan. For this purpose he was constructing a fleet at a 
port of Ximo, on the strait of Corea. Not long after Valignani’s 
arrival at Nagasaki, leave was obtained for him to visit the em¬ 
peror’s court at Miako; but his friends there advised that, instead 
of ecclesiastics, his retinue should be composed as much as possible 
of Portuguese merchants. The merchants at Nagasaki entered 
zealously into the afiair, and not less than twenty-seven of them 
accompanied Valignani, in the style of great lords, sparing no ex¬ 
pense to give magnificence to the ambassador’s train. He took with 
him also four priests, some young Japanese Jesuits not yet 
ordained, and the four returned youthful ambassadors. These 
ambassadors had learned to sing in the European style, and 
chanted church music tolerably well. They also had with them a 
great show of maps, globes, clocks, watches, and other European 
curiosities, which attracted much attention. Their description of 
what they had seen and heard made a deep impression upon the 
princes and nobles, who flocked from all quarters to see them. 
And there was ample leisure for this, as the approach of the am¬ 
bassador to Miako was delayed for more than two months by the 
death of the emperor’s only son. 

In this interval Valignani had had the pleasure of a visit from 
the disgraced Ucondono, whose face he was rejoiced to see lighted 
up with an air of content rarely seen among those on whom the 
favors of fortune are most prodigally showered. He protested that 
the happiest day in his life was that on which he had lost every¬ 
thing for Jesus Christ. He communicated to Father Valignani a 
design he had formed of quitting the world altogether, and conse¬ 
crating himself entirely to the service of God; but besides that he 
had a wife and a nmnerous family, whom his retreat would have 
left without resource, the father considered that he was much 
younger than the emperor; that if reestablished in his offices and 
his possessions, he might render much greater services to the church 



VALIGNANi’S AUDIENCE. 


105 


by remaining in the world than by quitting it, and on that ground 
he advised Ucondono not to withdraw from that station in life in 
which Providence had placed him. 

At last the emperor consented to admit Valignani to an 
audience, but only on condition that he should say nothing about 
religion or the revocation of the edict against the Jesuits. 
Through the care of Condera, to whom that business had been 
entrusted, the embassy was received at Miako with all honor, and 
was able to make a display which strongly impressed the inhabi¬ 
tants, and even the emperor in its favor. On the day of audience, 
Dainangandono, the emperor’s nephew and presumptive heir, at¬ 
tended by a great number of lords, met the ambassador, and con¬ 
ducted him to the hall of audience. This hall, which opened upon 
a magnificent balcony, before which spread a parterre of great 
beauty, consisted of five several divisions, rising, like steps, one 
above the other. The first served as an ante-chamber, or hall of 
waiting, for the gentlemen in attendance. ' In the two next were 
assembled the lords of the court and the great officers of the em¬ 
pire, arranged in order, according to their rank. In the fourth, 
there were only two persons, a priest who held the first dignity in 
the household of the Dairi, and the chief counsellor of that same 
dignitary; by the side of whom Dainangandono also took his place, 
after introducing the ambassador to the fifth and highest apart¬ 
ment, in which the emperor was seated alone, on his heels, in the 
Japanese fashion, upon an elevated throne, approached by steps on 
all sides. Father Valignani was preceded by one of the Portu¬ 
guese gentlemen of his suite, bearing the letter of the viceroy of 
the Indies, written in gilded letters upon fine vellum, with a golden 
seal attached to it, the whole enclosed in a little box beautifully 
wrought. That letter was as follows : 

LETTER OP THE VICEROY OP GOA TO THE EMPEROR OP JAPAN. 

“ Most Serene Emperor : Though the great space that separates us has 
not hitherto allowed me much communication with your majesty, yet fame 
and the religious men who labor in your empire to make known the law of 
the true God to your subjects, have informed me of the great deeds done by 
you, and of the victories which have made you the greatest monarch who 
lias reigned in Japan for ages ; and I have therefore thought it my duty to 
congi’atulate your majesty on the happy successes with which the God of 




106 


JAPAN. — A. 1). 1588—1593. 


heaven has favored you. The same religious men, who are, for the most part, 
natural-born subjects of the great prince whom the Indies obey, and who go 
through the earth with a truly heroical courage to teach men to know and to 
adore the Author of nature, have also informed me of the distinguished favors 
with which your majesty has uniformly honored them, and have begged me 
to convey to you their thanks, which I willingly do, conjointly with my own ; 
and that, indeed, is the particular object of this embassy, with which I have 
charged the Father Alexander Valignani, who has the honor to be already 
known to you. After rendering to your majesty his humblest thanks for 
your past favors, he will supplicate you, in my name, to vouchsafe to con¬ 
tinue them ; and I dare to assure your majesty that subjects for your favors 
cannot be found who will merit them better. Favors to them I shall esteem as 
favors to me, and shall take every opportunity to acknowledge them as such. 
I have charged my ambassador to present you with two Arabian genets, with 
their housings and harness, two swords, and two guns of a new fashion, two 
webs of tapestry embroidered with gold, and two complete suits of wrought 
steel armor, a dagger, which serves also as a pistol, and a tent for country 
excursions. 

“ At Goa, this year of Redemption, 1587. 

“ Dom Edward de Menesez.”* 

The presents seemed greatly to please the emperor, by whom 
they were carefully examined. A signal being given, Yalignani 
was led up the steps of the throne to the emperor’s feet, whom, on 
bended knee, he saluted, after the European fashion, by kissing 
his hand, — a privilege to which all the members of his suite were 
admitted in succession, the ambassador being meanwhile seated in 
the third compartment among the grandees of the court. Tea was 
then served to the emperor in a gilded cup, which, after sipping 
from it a little, he sent to the ambassador, who, at the same time, 
received, by way of present, a hundred silver platters and four silk 
dresses. Presents were also distributed among the members of his 
suite. The emperor then retired, first directing his nephew to en¬ 
tertain the ambassador at dinner, which he did, but with more of 
ceremony than good cheer. The guests consisted of three mem¬ 
bers of the imperial family and eight other great lords, all eating, 
each from his own little table or salver, in profound silence, many 
persons of inferior rank standing about them. The ambassador’s 
suite were entertained at the same time in a separate apartment. 

* This letter, with the reply in the next chapter, is given by Freer, from 
whom Gusman has copied them. 






VALIGNANi’S AUDIENCE. 


107 


After dinner the emperor again made his appearance in undress, 
and, seating himself beside Father Valignani, convel-sed with him for 
some time. He also conversed freely with the four returned Japan¬ 
ese, and seemed much pleased at hearing them sing and play in the 
European fashion. He made great offers to one of them ; but they 
had all made up their minds to enter the company of the Jesuits, 
which, in spite of a good deal of opposition on the part of their 
friends and relations, they presently did.*^ Passing into the hall 
where the ambassador’s suite had dined, the emperor addressed 
them with great familiarity, and they improved the opportunity to 
complain of some oppressions, on the part of the collector of the 
port of Nagasaki, which he promised should be redressed.! In the 
evening, Rodriguez, a young Portuguese Jesuit, who acted as one 
of Valignani’s interpreters, was sent for to show the emperor how 
to wind up a clock which the ambassador had presented to him. 
The emperor seemed much pleased with Rodriguez’s conversation, 
detaining him till late at night. On dismissing him, he bade 
him say to Father Valignani that he was at liberty to remain at 
Miako or wherever he pleased, till an answer to the viceroy’s let¬ 
ter was prepared, but that he must take care that the ecclesiastics 
who accompanied him comported themselves with discretion, so as 
not to drive him into striking disagreeable blows. Not long after 
Rodriguez was selected as the emperor’s interpreter, in which 
capacity he became attached to the court, and, by his access to the 
emperor and influence with him, had opportunities of rendering 
essential service to his order.! 

* Letters from the ambassadors to Sixtus V., written at Nagasaki after tlieir 
arrival there, and giving an account of their voyage home, may be found in 
Hay’s collection. 

t Valignani was not the first European to obtain an imperial audience. 
The same favor had been granted, as already mentioned, by Josi Tir to 
Father Vilela, in 1659. Louis Froez had also been admitted, in 1665, to an 
audience of the same emperor, of which he has given a short but interesting 
account. 

^ This is tlie same Rodriguez whose .Japanese grammars are mentioned in 
note A, Appendix, and who subsequently was the writer of many annual 
letters from Japan. 




CHAPTER XIII. 


NEW TROUBLES OF THE MISSIONARIES FROM THEIR OWN COUNTRYMEN. THE 
EMPEROR CLAIMS HOMAGE OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINES. — MU¬ 
TUAL JEALOUSIES OF THE PORTUGUESE AND SPANIARDS. SPANISH ADVEN¬ 
TURERS IN JAPAN.-THE EMPEROR’s SUSPICIONS EXCITED. HIS REPLY 

TO THE VICEROY OF GOA.-A. D. 1591—1592. 

Valignani’s gracious reception greatly raised the hopes of the 
Japanese converts. But much aimoyance was soon experienced 
from two pagan lords, who had been appointed joint governors of 
Nagasaki. Nor was it pagan hostility alone which the Jesuits 
had to dread. Enemies even more dangerous were found among 
their own countrymen in Japan, many of whom had ceased to ex- 
liibit that zeal for the faith, at first so universal. The irregular 
conduct of certain Portuguese merchants, in frequenting ports where 
tiiere were no missionaries, and where they could freely follow their 
own devices, had greatly troubled the Jesuit fathers. A Japanese 
adventurer, by name Firanda, having gone to the Philippines 
to trade, had taken it into his head to suggest to the emperor of 
Japan to require the Spanish governor of those islands to acknowl¬ 
edge him as sovereign. This idea, conveyed to the emperor through 
a Japanese courtier with whom Firanda was intimate, was eagerly 
caught at by a prince rendered vain by the elevation to which he 
had attained, and whose head was filled with schemes for still 
further extending his empire. He wrote an imperious letter to the 
governor of the Philippines, demanding his homage, and despatched 
it by the hand of Firanda, who applied to Father Valignani, to 
write to the Jesuits at Manilla, and to the Spanish governor, in 
furtherance of this project. Valignani refused to write any such 
letters, alleging as an ostensible reason, that he had no acquaint¬ 
ance with the governor of the Philippines, nor authority over the 


SPANIARDS IN JAPAN. 


109 


Jesuits of Manilla ; and, in consequence of this refusal, Firanda did 
not venture to carry the letter himself, but sent it by another 
hand. Valignani wrote, however, by a simultaneous opportunity, to 
the Jesuits of Manilla, informing them of this affair, suggesting its 
delicate character, and the expediency, while due care was had of 
the honor of the Spanish crown, of not giving to the emperor of 
Japan any pretence for renewing his persecution of the mission¬ 
aries. 

Notwithstanding the union of the crowns of Spain and Portugal, 
upon the head of Philip II., a very fierce jealousy and hatred con¬ 
tinued to exist between the two nations ^ and this feeling was par¬ 
ticularly violent at Manilla, which city, founded in 1572, was almost 
contemporaneous in its origin with Nagasaki, and whose merchants 
looked very enviously at the monopoly of the trade to Japan secured 
to the Portuguese, and to the city of Macao, by the terms of the 
union between the two crowns. This express exclusion of all 
Spanish merchants from Japan had been indeed already broken 
through, in at least two instances, by the arrival of one Jean de Solis 
from Peru, by way of Macao, and of another Spanish merchant 
from the Philippines, both of whom, after various adventures, and 
receiving aid and services from the Jesuit missionaries, had reached 
Nagasaki. Solis soon after proceeded to Satsuma on the southern 
coast of Ximo, where he commenced building a vessel in which to 
trade to China and thence to Peru, — a project in which he was 
presently joined by the other Spaniard. But to carry out this 
scheme it became necessary for Solis to get back a sum of money 
which he had been compelled to deposit in the hands of the Portu¬ 
guese, at Nagasaki, as security for certain debts which he had con¬ 
tracted at Macao; and because Father Valignani would not help 
them in this matter, the two Spaniards threatened to give informa¬ 
tion to the emperor of the large number of Jesuits still in Japan, 
in violation of his edict, and to denounce the princes who gave 
them shelter. 

The emperor, meanwhile, had been a good deal soured and his 
suspicions excited by some suggestions, thrown out by the enemies 
of the Jesuits, that Vaiignani was no real ambassador, that being 
a mere pretence to secure his entry into Japan. Means, indeed, 
had been found to quiet him upon this head, to which the repre- 
10 



110 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1591—1592. 


sentations of Rodriguez greatly contributed ; but the answer which 
he caused to be prepared to the viceroy’s letter, took so high a 
tone, and was so filled with invectives against the missionaries, that 
Y alignani was unwilling to be the bearer of it. 

Finally, by the persuasions of the governor of Miako, an idola¬ 
ter, but favorable to the new religion, the emperor was induced to 
modify his letter ; and he even adopted a crafty suggestion of Rod¬ 
riguez that the Jesuits whom Valignani had brought with him 
should remain at Nagasaki as hostages, till the authenticity of his 
mission was placed beyond question. The letter, as finally modified, 
a frank exposition of Taikp’s policy, was in the following terms : 

TAIKO-SAMA TO THE VICEROY OF GOA. 

“ Most Illustrious Lord : I received with pleasure the letter which you 
wrote me, and in reading it seemed to realize that great distance between us 
of which you speak. Japan contains more than sixty realms or principali¬ 
ties, which have been for a long time agitated by troubles and civil wars, 
growing out of the refusal of the princes to render to their sovereign lord 
the obedience which they owe him. The sight of so many evils sensibly 
afflicted me from my earliest age, and I revolved in my mind a remedy for 
them ; and with that view I laboriously applied myself to the acquisition of 
three virtues the mo^t necessary for so great an undertaking. In the first 
place, I studied affability, so as to gain all hearts. Next I strove to accustom 
myself to judge soundly of all things, and to comport myself at all times with 
prudence and discretion. In the third place, I have omitted no occasion of 
inspiring a high idea of my valor. Thus have I succeeded in subjecting all 
Japan to my authority, which I govern with a mildness equal to the coni'age 
displayed in subduing it. I have especially caused the effects of my tender¬ 
ness to be felt by the laborers who cultivate the earth. All my severity is 
reserved for those who deviate from the paths of virtue. Nothing is more 
tranquil than Japan at this moment, and it is this tranquillity which makes 
it strong. This vast monarchy is like a firmly-fixed rock ; all the efforts of 
its enemies cannot shake it. So, not only am I at peace at home, but even 
very distant countries send to render me the obedience which is my due. I 
expect soon to conquer China, and as I have no doubt of succeeding in it, I 
hope we shall soon be much nearer to each other, and that the communication 
between us will not be so difficult. 

“ As to what regards religion, Japan is the realm of the Kami, that is, of 
Six, the beginning of all things ; and the good order of the government de¬ 
pends upon the exact observance of the ancient laws of which the Kami are 
the authors. They cannot be departed from without overturning the subor¬ 
dination which ought to exist, of subjects to their sovereign, wives to their hus- 





POLICY OF TAIKO-SAMA. 


Ill 


bands, children to their parents, vassals to their lords, and servants to their 
masters. These laws are necessary to maintain good order within and tranquil¬ 
lity without. The fathers, called the Company, have come to these islands to 
teach another religion ; but as that of the Kami is too deeply rooted to be erad¬ 
icated, this new law can only serve to introduce into Japan a diversity of 
worship very prejudicial to the state. It is on that account that, by an im¬ 
perial edict, I have forbidden these strange doctors to continue to preach 
their doctrine. I have even ordered them to leave Japan, and I am deter¬ 
mined not to allow anybody to come thither to retail new opinions. But 
I still desire that commerce, as between you and me, may continue on its old 
footing. I shall keep the way open to you both by sea and land, by freeing 
the one from pirates and the other from robbers. The Portuguese may trade 
with my subjects in all security, and I shall take care that nobody harms 
them. All the presents mentioned in your letter have been faithfully 
delivered ; and I send you in return some rarities of this country, of which 
a list is annexed. For other matters I refer you to your ambassador, and 
will therefore say no more. Dated the 25th year of the era Tengo, and the 
25th of the 7th month.” 

It would seem from this letter and from what we know of the 
actual policy adopted by Taiko-Sama and his predecessor Nobu- 
nanga, that, in seeking to reestablish the imperial authority on its 
old traditional basis, they had aimed, also, at reedifying the old 
national religion. Nobunanga had treated the Buddhist bonzes 
with very great severity; and, though the policy of Taiko was less 
bloody, they do not appear to have enjoyed any share of his flivor; 
and it is to be observed that in his letter he speaks exclusively of 
the religion of the Kami as the creed proper to Japan. The assur¬ 
ances on the subject of commerce seemed the more necessary on 
account of a dispute which had arisen between the governors of 
Nangasaki and the commander of the annual Portuguese ship, 
which, however, on appeal to the emperor, had been settled against 
the governors. The presents that accompanied this letter were two 
suits of Japanese armor, not so strong as the armor of Europe, but 
very handsome, a kind of espontoon or halbert, enclosed in a scab¬ 
bard of gold, and a sabre and poniard of the highest temper, and 
richly ornamented. 





CHAPTER XIV. 


THE EXPEDITION AGAINST COREA.-THE EMPEROR ASSOCIATES HIS NEPHEW. 

.— CITY OF FUSIMI.-CORRESPONDENCE OF THE EMPEROR WITH THE GOV¬ 
ERNOR OP MANILLA.-THE JESUITS DENOUNCED BY THE SPANISH ENVOYS. 

-CONSEQUENCES THEREOF.-DEPARTURE OF VALIGNANI.-A. D. 1692. 

Meanwhile, an army of eighty thousand men, divided into 
four corps, had been raised for the war against Corea; and not 
to leave the country without a head, should the emperor choose 
himself to lead the invading forces, he took his nephew as an 
associate in the empire, resigning to him the title of Kambacun- 
dono, while he assumed for himself that of Taiko-Sama, the title 
by which this most illustrious of the Japanese emperors is com¬ 
monly known. 

Though much engaged in this foreign enterprise, he still found 
time to lay the foundations of the new city of Fusimi, which he 
designed to make his capital, but the nearness of which to Miako 
ultimately placed it in the position of a sort of suburb to that 
ancient city. 

The first division of the invading army, which at length set sail, 
was led by the grand admiral, king of Fingo, whose troops, as well 
as those of the second division, led by the son of Condera, the 
king of Buygen, were drawn from the island of Ximo, and were 
composed almost entirely, ofiicers as well as men, of Catholic con¬ 
verts. And, indeed, the suspicion soon began to be entertained 
that Corea had been invaded, not so much to add new provinces to 
the Taiko-Sama’s etnpire, as to keep the converted princes employed 
away from home. 

While the emperor, to look after and to second the invasion, hast¬ 
ened to Ximo, where his presence caused no little alarm to the mis¬ 
sionaries, the grand admiral was already making rapid progress. 


SPANISH INTRIGUES. 


113 ' 


Having taken two places by assault, all the others, as far as the 
capital, opened their gates. To save their capital, the Coreans 
fought and lost a pitched battle. A second victory, on the part 
of the grand admiral, drove the Corean king to seek refuge in 
China, while the capital opened its gates to the triumphant 
Japanese.* 

But the joy of the missionaries at the success of an army led 
by one of their adherents, and so largely composed of converts, 
was not a little damped by a side blow from another and an unex¬ 
pected quarter. So anxious was the Spanish governor of Manilla 
to improve every chance for opening a trade with Japan, that, in 
spite of the imperious character of the emperor’s letter, he sent 
an answer to it by a Spanish gentleman named Liano, in which, 
indeed, he evaded its demands by suggesting that the mean quality 
of the person who had brought it, and his not having heard any¬ 
thing on the subject from the Jesuits at Nagasaki, had led him to 
suspect its. authenticity. Liano, accompanied by a Dominican 
friar, landed in Satsuma, where he met with Solis, the Spaniard 
from Peru, still busy with his ship-building enterprise, and in no 
very good humor with the Portuguese and the Jesuits. To confer 
with Firanda, the envoys proceeded to Nagasaki, which city they 

* According to the letters of Louis Froez, the prince of Omura joined the 
army against Corea with one thousand men, the king of Arima with two 
thousand, and the king of Bungo with ten thousand, besides mariners and 
mean people to carry the baggage. The entire number of men-at-arm in 
the empire, at this time, is stated to have been, by a written catalogue, three 
hundred thousand. The victories mentioned in the text were gained by an 
advanced body of fifteen thousand men. The Coreans (of whom to this day 
we know little or nothing) are described by Froez as different from the Chi¬ 
nese in race and language, and superior to them in personal prowess, yet as 
in a manner tributary to China, whose laws, customs and arts, they had bor¬ 
rowed. They are represented as good bowmen, but scantily provided with 
other weapons, and therefore not able to encounter the cannon, lances and 
swords, of the Japanese, who had been, beside, practised by continual wars 
among themselves. But in nautical affairs Froez reckons the Chinese and 
Coreans as decidedly superior to the Japanese. Translations from several 
Jesuit letters relating to the Corean war, will be found in Hackluyt, vol. i'., 
near the end. Siebold, relying upon Japanese authorities, insists that it was 
through Corea that the arts, knowledge, language and written characters, ot 
China were introduced into Japan. 

10 * 




114 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1592. 


left again without any communication with the Portuguese mer¬ 
chants, or the missionaries; and, accompanied by Firanda and his 
Japanese friend, Faxagava, they hastened to the northern coast of 
Ximo, where the emperor then was. Faxagava and Firanda 
translated so ill the letter of the governor of Manilla, as to make 
it express something of a disposition to comply with the emperor’s 
pretensions, who, thereupon, wrote a second letter, declaring the 
other to be genuine, and renewing the demand which it had con¬ 
tained of submission and homage. The envoys, without fully un¬ 
derstanding its contents, consented to receive this letter; and in the 
hope that, if the Portuguese were driven away, the commerce of 
Japan might fall into the hands of the Spaniards of Manilla, they 
proceeded to suggest heavy complaints against the Portuguese at 
Nagasaki, whom they not only charged as guilty of great harshness 
in support of their commercial monopoly, but also with protecting 
the Jesuits, great numbers of whom, in spite of the emperor’s edicts, 
still continued to be sheltered in that city and its neighborhood. 
The emperor either was, or had affected to be ignorant of the extent 
to which his edicts had been disregarded. This information put 
him into a great rage ; and he issued instant orders for the destruc¬ 
tion of the splendid church at Nagasaki, hitherto untouched, and 
also of the house of the Jesuits, who had now no place of residence 
left there except the hospital of Misrecordia. But these wicked 
Spaniards did not long go unpunished. Solis, on his way back to 
Satsuma, perished by shipwreck, as did the Spanish envoys on their 
return voyage to Manilla. It was stated, too, that the emperor’s 
mother died at Miako, at the very moment of his signing the order 
for the destruction of the church,—judgments so striking as to 
become, so we are told by the missionaries, the occasion of many 
conversions. 

Such was the state of affairs when Father Valignani, leaving Japan 
for the second time, sailed for Macao in October, 1592. 





CHAPTER XV. 


.d'r 

-v" r 
F'.' fr ■ 


PROGRESS OF THE COREAN WAR.-SUCCESS OF THE JAPANESE.—TSUKAMDONO 

VICEROY OF COREA. — EDICT OF THE EMPEROR FOR DISARMING THE CON¬ 
VERTS IN XIMO.-DISGRACE AND DOWNFALL OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OP 

BUNCO.-TERAZABA GOVERNOR OF NAGASAKI. — HIS CONVERSION AND 

FRIENDLY ACTS.—A. D. 1592—1593. 

Though the emperor did not himself pass into Corea, he sent 
thither such reinforcements as to raise his army there to the num¬ 
ber of two hundred thousand men. But the Coreans having aban¬ 
doned their cities and fled to inaccessible places, burning everything, 
even to provisions, which they could not carry away (thus setting 
an example long afterwards followed by the Russians on a similar 
occasion), this great force was soon reduced to extremities, by which 
its numbers were rapidly diminished. The Chinese also came to 
the assistance of the Coreans; and the grand admiral, with forces 
so reduced as to be greatly inferior in numbers, was obliged to 
encounter these new enemies in several desperate engagements. 
Compelled at last to retreat, he fell back upon a garrison which he 
had left to keep up his communications with the coast, the com¬ 
mand of which he had entrusted to Joscimon, king of Bungo. But 
that feeble prince, in a moment of terror, had abandoned his post; 
and, the grand admiral’s communications thus cut ofif, nothing but 
his distinguished firmness and courage saved his army from total 
destruction. After a drawn battle under the walls of the Corean 
capital, terms of peace were agreed upon, according to which five 
of the eight provinces of Corea were assigned to the Japanese; and 
the commerce between China and Japan, which by the act of the 
former had for some time been broken off, was again renewed. 

The admiral was named viceroy of Corea, and the converted 
princes were still detained there at the head of their troops. The 



116 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1592—1593. 


missionaries, thus separated from their protectors, were filled with 
new alarms by an order of the emperor for disarming all their 
converts in Ximo. The king of Bungo, as a punishment for his 
cowardice, was stripped of his estates; and in the end he and his 
family, reduced to absolute poverty, were obliged to retire to Naga¬ 
saki, and to live there on the charity of the Jesuits. His territo¬ 
ries were assigned to pagan lords, and the converted inhabitants 
soon felt the consequences of the change. Indeed, throughout Ximo 
the converts suffered greatly by the absence of their princes, of whom 
several died about this time. But, in general, the Catholics stood 
firm; and several of the Jesuit fathers having made their way to 
Corea, new converts were made in the ranks of the army. 

The missionaries also found a new friend in Terazaba, a young 
man appointed governor of Nagasaki, and who, not long after, 
was secretly baptized. He represented to the emperor that, if 
the Portuguese merchants were still to be admitted to trade at 
Nagasaki, they ought to be allowed some priests, since it was the 
influence and authority of the priests that kept the merchants in 
order, settled their quarrels, and obliged them to strict justice in 
their commercial transactions ; and, upon the strength of these plau¬ 
sible representations, Terazaba obtained leave for the. Jesuits to 
rebuild their house and church at Nagasaki. Father Cnecchi, also, 
in consideration of his age and infirmities, was allowed to remain 
at Miako, though without any church, or permission to celebrate 
divine service openly. 



CHAPTER XVI. 


JEALOUSY ON THE PART OF THE DOMINICANS AND FRANCISCANS TOWARDS THE 

JESUITS.-THIS JEALOUSY COOPERATES WITH THE MERCANTILE JEALOUSY 

OF THE SPANIARDS AT MANILLA.—FRANCISCAN FRIARS ESTABLISH THEM¬ 
SELVES AT MIAKO, OSAKA AND NAGASAKI.-EDICTS AGAINST THEM.-DE¬ 

POSITION AND DEATH OF THE EMPEROR’S NEPHEW. — A. D. 1593—1595. 

It was not alone against the emperor’s hostility and the mercan¬ 
tile envy of the Spanish that the Jesuits had to contend. The 
rapid rise and great successes of the Company of Jesus had excited 
against them not only the dread and deadly hatred of the Protest¬ 
ants (which might naturally enough have been expected), but feel¬ 
ings also of envy and jealousy, scarcely less hostile, and by no 
means very scrupulous, on the part of their monastic brethren of 
the Catholic church — the Dominicans, and especially the numerous 
bodies of Franciscans, who had attempted, by various reforms and 
modifications, to revive and purify that ancient order, so as to make 
it equal to compete with the Jesuits. 

A brief of Pope Gregory XIII., dated in 1585, had forbidden, 
under pain of the greater excommunication, any but J esuits to pro¬ 
ceed to Japan with the view of exercising any ecclesiastical func¬ 
tion there ; and this bull was not less disagreeable to the Domini¬ 
cans and Franciscans, than the Portuguese monopoly of the 
Japanese trade was to the Spanish merchants. At Manilla these 
feelings of dissatisfaction, both mercantile and ecclesiastical, com¬ 
bined in a common focus, giving rise to the most injurious and 
unfounded reports, which were even embodied in print, of extensive 
apostasies among the Japanese converts, and of the great jeopardy 
into which Catholicism had been brought by the misconduct of the 
Jesuits, who, at this moment, were out of favor in Spain. 

Tlie same Faranda already mentioned, having gone in person to 


118 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1593—1595. 


Manilla, inflamed tlie zeal of some Franciscans whom he found 
there, by representing that it was to the Jesuit missionaries person¬ 
ally, and not to their religion, that the emperor was opposed. The 
Spanish governor, not having received the emperor’s answer to his 
former letter, was induced, in the hope of opening the door to com¬ 
mercial intercourse, to write a new one; and four Franciscans 
attached themselves to the bearer of it, eagerly seizing upon this 
opportunity to gain admission into Japan. 

When the emperor found that these new deputies had not brought 
the submission which he had demanded, at first he was very angry, 
but was finally persuaded to allow them to travel through the em¬ 
pire, in order to see and to report its greatness. The Franciscans 
were even suffered to build or buy a house at Miako, to which they 
presently added a church; and, being joined by others of their order, 
a convent was established at Osaka. Two of them having gone to 
Nagasaki, took possession of a church in the environs of that city, 
which had remained closed since the commencement of the persecu¬ 
tion ; and here, as well as in the other two cities, they performed 
their religious functions with an ostentation and publicity which 
greatly alarmed the Jesuits, whom the Franciscans accused of an 
unworthy timidity. 

The Jesuits, under these circumstances, thought proper to call 
the attention of these new comers ta the bull of Gregory XIII., 
above referred to, prohibiting the entry into Japan of any ecclesias¬ 
tics except those of the Company of Jesus; to which the Francis¬ 
cans replied, that they had entered Japan not as ecclesiastics, but 
as envoys from the governor of Manilla; and that being there 
without any violation of the bull, nobody had any right to prevent 
them from exercising their ecclesiastical functions — a piece of 
casuistry which not even a Jesuit could have outdone. Very soon, 
however, the governor of Nagasaki closed the church of the Fran¬ 
ciscans, and, before long, an edict appeared threatening the punish¬ 
ment of death to all who frequented their convent and church at 
Miako, — procedures which the Franciscans were uncharitable 
enough to ascribe to the intrigues of the Jesuits. It seems prob¬ 
able, however, that decisive steps would still earlier have been 
taken against these over-zealous Franciscans, had not the emperor’s 
attention been engrossed by other more pressing matters. He had 





THE DAIRI AND HIS COURT. 


119 


conceived a jealousy against liis nephew and colleague, whom, by 
slow and cautious steps, he stripped of all his authority, sending him 
at length to a monastery of bonzes, where he soon received an 
order to cut himself open. The thirty-one wives of the deposed 
prince, with all their children, were publicly beheaded, and all his 
closest adherents shared his disgrace, and many of them his trag¬ 
ical fate.* An infant son, by name Fide Jori, borne to the emperor 
from his new wife, the daughter of the Dairi, and to whom he 
desired to secure the succession, was the innocent cause of these 
cruelties. No sooner was the nephew out of the way than that 
infant received from the Dairi the title of Kambucundono. 

* Yet Taiko-Sama was not in general cruel. A curious letter of Father 
Organtino Brixiano, written in 1594, enumerates, among the reasons of 
Taiko's great success, his clemency to the conquered princes whom he never 
put to death after having once promised them their lives, and to whom he 
granted a revenue, small, but sufficient to maintain them, and which served 
to keep them quiet. Another reason was his having established for his sol¬ 
diers during war a commissariat, of which he paid the expense, by which 
they were rendered much more efficient. He also kept them employed, for, 
besides the army maintained in Corea, he set them to work in building or 
repairing palaces and fortresses, or in other public works. At this time he 
had thirty thousand men at work upon one castle near Miako, and one hun¬ 
dred thousand at Fusimi. He also broke the power of the princes by trans¬ 
ferring them to distant parts, while he inspired general respect by his strict 
justice, from which he was swerved by no considerations of relationship, fam¬ 
ily or influence, secular or religious. Another reason mentioned by the mis^ 
sionary does not correspond so well with Taiko’s letter to the viceroy of 
Goa. He is said not only to have disarmed the country people, by whose 
strength and wealth the petty kingdoms had been sustained, but also to 
have reduced them to extreme poverty ; but this, perhaps, applies ratlier to 
the petty lords than to the actual cultivators. This letter is in Hay’s collec¬ 
tion, and a part of it, in English, may be found in Hackluiyt’s 4th volume. 





CHAPTER XVII. 

GREAT EARTHQUAKE.—MISSION FROM CHINA. — ARRIVAL OP A SPANISH 
GALLEON.— FRIARS ON BOARD HER. — NEW ACCUSATIONS ON HER ACCOUNT 
AGAINST THE JESUITS. — CONNECTION OF THE JESUITS WITH THE TRADE TO 
JAPAN.—ARREST OF MISSIONARIES AND CONVERTS. — FIRST MARTYRS.— 

A. D. 1595-1597. 

The emperor, now at the height of his power and glory, was mak 
ino- o-reat preparations to receive an embassy from China, when 
Japan was visited by a frightful earthquake, which almost ruined 
his new city of Fusimi. The sea rose to an extraordinary height, 
especially in the strait between Nipon and Sikokf, attended^ with a 
terrible destruction of life and property. Nor did the mission from 
China at all answer the expectation of the emperor, since the am¬ 
bassadors demanded nothing less than the entire evacuation of 
(lorea, — a demand which speedily led to a renewal of the war. 

In 1596, a richly-laden Spanish galleon, from the Philip¬ 
pines, disabled and driven by adverse winds to the coast of Japan, 
was induced, partly by persuasions, and partly by a show of force, 
to enter a harbor on the south coast of Sikokf, where she was imme¬ 
diately seized by the local authorities as forfeited. The commander 
of the vessel sent two of his officers to Miako to solicit a remission 
of this forfeiture, which mission was charged to have nothing to do 
with the Jesuits, but to consult only with the Franciscans estab¬ 
lished in that city. It had, however, no success. The prize seemed 
to the emperor too valuable to be given up. Driven at length by 
extremity to seek the aid of the Jesuits, the ship s company, after 
being for some time supported by their charity, were shipped off by 
their assistance to Manilla, all except four Augustine friars, a Do¬ 
minican and two Franciscans, who remained in Japan as missionaries. 
But, instead of getting any thanks from the inhabitants of Manilla, 


JESUIT PARTICIPATION IN COMMERCE. 


121 


the Jesuits were accused of having by their intrigues caused the for¬ 
feiture of the ship and her cargo.* 

A narrative of the affair, written by a monk, and full of charges 
against the J esuits, was printed there, and sent to Spanish Ameri¬ 
ca, whence it was carried to Europe, and widely diffused by the 
enemies of the order, being soon followed by violent memorials to 
the same effect, addressed to the Pope and the king of Spain. 
These charges, however, did not remain unanswered, a reply to them 
being published at Acapulco, signed by a number of Japanese who 
traded thither, and by several Spaniards and Portuguese who had 
been in Japan. 

It was the Manilla pamphlet above referred to which first brought 
against the J esuits the charges, ultimately so damaging to the order, 
of an uncanonical connection with commerce. The account of this 
trade, so far as Japan was concerned, as given by the Jesuits them¬ 
selves, is as follows. The revenues of the mission had consisted 
at first only of the charities of some individuals, aided by a sum of 
five hundred ducats, paid yearly at Macao by the king of Portu¬ 
gal— a donation doubled in 1574, to facilitate the foundation of a 
college. Some considerable amounts had been received at different 
times from the wealthier native converts ; but almost the whole of 
these sums had been expended in the founding and support of hos¬ 
pitals and other charities. For several years the chief resource of 

Some curious infors^ation respecting the Philippines is contained in a 
letter dated Mexico, 1590, intercepted on its way to Spain by some English 
cruiser, and translated and published by Hackluyt in his fourth volume. 
This letter represents the country as very unhealthy “ for us Spaniards,” of 
whom not more than one thousand were left alive out of fourteen thousand 
■who had gone there in the twenty years preceding. It seems, too, that tbe 
Spaniards at Manilla, not less than the Portuguese at Macao, had succeeded 
in opening a trade with China. “ There is a place in China, which is an 
harbor called Macaran, which the king has given to the Spaniards freely ; 
which shall be the place where the ships shall come to traffic. For in this 
harbor there is a great river, which goeth up into the main land, unto divers 
towns and cities, which are near to this river.” Where was this Spanish 
Chinese port ? 

The annual galleons to New Spain were to Manilla what the annual carao 
to Japan was to Macao—amain support of the place. The privilege of 
putting a certain amount of goods on board was distributed among all the 
resident merchants, offices and public institutions. 

11 





122 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1595—1507. 


the fathers for their own support had been the proceeds of a fund 
of four thousand ducats, which Louis Almeida, on entering the 
order in 1556, and devoting himself to the Japanese mission, 
as mentioned in a former chapter, had set aside for that purpose 
out of his own private fortune, all the rest of which he had 
bestowed in the founding of hospitals. This fund had been en¬ 
trusted by Almeida to certain Portuguese merchants to trade upon 
for the benefit of the Jesuits. But, though this trust had been 
faithfully executed, the proceeds of it had been quite too small to 
support the increasing number of the missionaries. Some small 
pensions, allowed them by the Popes Gregory XIII. and Sixtus V., 
failed to make up the deficiency; and, at length, it was agreed by 
the commercial company at J^Iacao, by whom the annual Portuguese 
carac was fitted out for Japan, and by means of which the chief trade 
between Japan and the Portuguese was now carried on, that out of 
the sixteen hundred packages of silks, which formed a part of her 
cargo, fifty (afterwards increased to eighty) packages should be 
shipped on account of the Jesuits—an arrangement to which the 
viceroy of the Indies assented. For this business two commercial 
agencies were maintained by the Jesuits — one at Macao, the 
other at Nagasaki. The enemies of the Jesuits insisted that they 
sent to Japan yearly goods to the value of a hundred and sixty 
thousand ducats, on which their profits were sixty thousand. This 
was probably exaggerated;' yet, when Charlevoix pretends that 
the whole annual Portuguese trade and profits did not amount 
to those sums, his statement is refuted as well by other known facts 
as by the vastly larger value of the cargoes of such of the annual 
caracs as some years later fell into the hands of the Butch. 

While the unlucky affair of the forfeited Spanish galleon caused 
Europe to resound with accusations against the Jesuits, in Japan 
itself it had results more speedy and more fatal. The Spanish pilot, 
finding that entreaties did not succeed, had attempted to make an 
impression upon those who had seized the ship by expatiating on 
the power of the king of Spain, the extent of whose dominions in 
Europe, Asia, Africa and America, he exhibited on a map of the 
world. To the inquiry how such an extent of dominion had been 
obtained, the pilot replied that nothing was easier; that the king 
began by sending missionaries into the countries he wished to con- 





FIRST MARTYRS. 


123 


quer, who, as soon as they had converted a part of the inhabitants, 
were followed by troops, which troops, being joined by the converts, 
easily succeeded in subduing the country. This statement, it is 
said, was immediately reported to the emperor, who no sooner heard 
it than he ordered guards to be placed at the doors of the Fran¬ 
ciscan convents at Miako and Osaka, at which latter city, since the 
earthquake, the emperor had made his residence. Guards were 
also placed at the houses of the Jesuits; but in that at Osaka there 
was only one young priest with two proselytes, and in that at Miako 
only the aged Father Gnecchi, who soon, through the dexterity of 
some of his friends, was conveyed out of it unobserved by the guards. 
There were taken in the convents of the Franciscans three priests, 
a clerk and two lay brothers, one of them a Spanish creole of Mex¬ 
ico, the other a Portuguese creole of the East Indies. A list was 
also ordered to be taken of the persons who frequented the Fran¬ 
ciscan churches at Miako and Osaka. A great many names were 
originally placed on it, but the governor of Miako, desirous to limit 
as much as possible the number of victims, finally struck off all but 
fifteen, who also were put under arrest. 

On the 3d of January, 1597, these twenty-four prisoners were 
taken to a public square in Miako, where each of them had the tip 
of his left ear cut oft', after which they were placed in carriages and 
paraded through the streets. A similar ceremony soon after took 
place in Sakai and Osaka, whence the prisoners were sent to Naga¬ 
saki to be executed. At all the towns and cities on the way they 
were made a spectacle of, as if to terrify those of the same faith. 
But they exhibited, we are told, great fervor and firmness, making 
many new converts and inspiring many old ones with the desire of 
martyrdom. On the way their number was increased to twenty- 
six by the addition of two others who had greatly busied themselves 
in ministering to the wants of the prisoners, and who, upon being 
asked if they were Catholics, replied that they detested the gods 
of Japan. 

Fortunately for himself, Terezaba, the secretly-converted governor 
of Nagasaki, had been ordered to Corea, his place being supplied by 
a pagan brother of his, by whom an edict was issued threatening 
with death all who should embrace the foreign religion. At the same 
time he intimated to the Jesuits that he should allow no Japanese 



124 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1595—1597. 


to enter their church in that city, nor themselves to traverse^ the 
country, as they had done, preaching and baptizing. He exhibited, 
however, every disposition to be as indulgent as possible in the 
execution of his orders; for though the prisoners were denied the 
privilege of hearing mass, they were permitted, on their way to the 
place of execution, to stop at the hermitage of St. Lazarus, where 
the Jesuits confessed to Father Kodriguez and another of their 
order, who met them there, and the Franciscans to each other. ^ 

The place of execution was not that made use of for ordinary 
malefactors, but a hill bordering on the sea, one of those by which 
the city of Nagasaki is surrounded, and thenceforth known among 
the converts as the Holy 3Iountain, or ]\lou?it of JMartyTS, to which 
name it gained still further claim by becoming the scene of many 
subsequent executions, continuing also, as long as the new religion 
lasted in Japan, a place of pilgrimage for its adherents. The 
prisoners were followed to this hill by an excited crowd, who, with 
tears and benedictions, besought their prayers. They were put to 
death by crucifixion, which, however, according to the Japanese 
method, is not a lingering punishment. The sufferer is bound, not 
nailed, to the cross, and his body is immediately pierced by a lance, 
or sometimes by two lances, thrust in at the sides, and coming out 
at the shoulders. 

The earth, wet with the martyrs’ precious blood, was sedulously 
gathered up by the bystanders, and, in spite of the care with which 
the bodies were guarded, those of the three Jesuits were conveyed 
away to Macao; or, at least, bodies alleged to be the same were 
preserved in the churches there with great veneration as relics. 
Many miracles were alleged to have attended and followed the 
death of these martyrs, as to which duly authenticated affidavits 
may be found recorded in the great collection of Bolandus, afford¬ 
ing grounds for the canonization of these twenty-six Japanese pro¬ 
to-martyrs, decreed, thirty years after, by Pope Urban VIII. 





CHAPTER XYIII. 


NEW EDICT FOR THE DEPORTATION OF THE JESUITS.-ITS PARTIAL EVASION. 

T— NEW CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND JAPAN.-TAI- 

KO-SAMA’S justification of HIS RECENT PROCEEDINGS.-NEW DESTRUC¬ 
TION OP CHURCHES IN XIMO.-TAIKO-SAMA’s DEATH.-HIS PRECEDING 

EFFORTS TO SECURE HIS OWN DEIFICATION AND THE SUCCESSION OF IIIS 

INFANT SON FIDO JORI.-REGENCY.-GE-JAS ITS HEAD, WITH THE TITLE 

OF DAYSU-SAMA.-A. D. 1597—1599. 

Even a more serious blow than the execution of the first martyrs, 
which seems rather to have warmed than to have cooled the zeal 
of the converted Japanese, was an order from the emperor to the 
governor of Nagasaki to collect all the missionaries, and to ship 
them off to China, except only his interpreter, Rodriguez, and two 
or three other Jesuits, who might be permitted to remain at Naga¬ 
saki for the benefit of the Portuguese traders. 

There were still in Japan as many as a hundred and twenty-five 
members of the Company, of whom forty-six were priests. To 
blind the emperor by an apparent submission to his will, it was 
agreed that the newly arrived bishop of Japan (the fourth 
appointed to this diocese, but the first who had arrived there) 
should depart in the same vessel in which he had come, especially 
as he might improve his absence to represent to the viceroy of 
the Indies the pressing necessities of his diocese. The novitiate, 
the college in the island of Amacusa,* and the seminary for young 
nobles hitherto kept on foot in Arima, were all given up, and most 
of the fathers connected with them set out for Nagasaki. Of the 
whole number, however, there remained behind eight in the island 

* The fathers resident at this college had been by no means idle. They had 
printed there, in 1593, a Japanese grammar, prepared by Father Alvarez, and 
in 1595, in a thick quarto of upwards of nine hundred pages, a Portuguese, 
Latin and Japanese Lexicon. A vocabulary entirely Japanese was printed 
at Nagasaki, 1598. See Appendix A. 

11 ^ 


126 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1597—1509. 


of Amakusa, twelve in Arima and Omura, four in Bungo, and aa 
many more in Firando and Gotto, while two others passed into 
Corea; but it was understood that these priests thus left behind, 
while ministering to the faithful, should avoid doing anything that 
might di-aw attention upon them. 

The aged Father Gnecchi, with two priests and five or six other 
Jesuits, remained at Miako, Father Matthew de Couros being ap¬ 
pointed to fill the place of Father Louis Froez, lately deceased, in 
the ofiice of sending to Rome memoirs for the history of Japan. 
With these exceptions all the rest of the Jesuits assembled at 
Nagasaki, making a show of getting ready to depart. Indeed, the 
poop of a Portuguese vessel, which sailed shortly after, appeared to 
be full of them; but most of these seeming Jesuits were only Por¬ 
tuguese merchants, dressed for the occasion in the habit of the 
order; while, to accoimt for the staying behind of any who might 
happen to be detected in the provinces, it was given out that some 
had been left because the vessel was not large enough to take all. 

Soon after the departui’e of this vessel, a Spanish gentleman 
arrived from JManilla with presents and a letter to the emperor from 
a new governor of the Philippines, remonstrating, though in meas¬ 
ured terms, against the confiscation of the San Philip and the 
execution of the Spanish ecclesiastics, several of whom had entered 
Japan in the character of envoys from his predecessor. The letter 
requested the bodies of those martyrs, and, for the future, safety 
and kind treatment to all Spanish vessels driven accidentally 
to Japan. Taiko-Sama, in reply, justified his proceedings against 
the missionaries, not only because they had disregarded his re¬ 
peated orders to leave Japan, but because, insinuating their creed 
into the minds of his subjects, they designed finally to get possession 
of the country as the Spaniards had done of Manilla. His 
excuse for the confiscation of the San Philip was that she had 
attempted to enter a port of Japan in violation of law. He refused 
to give up any part of her cargo, but otfered to restore a number 
of slaves which had belonged to her, at the same time expressing a 
willingness to consent to a regulated trade with the Spaniards, pro¬ 
vided they would promise to bring no priests. 

A report that the emperor was about to visit Nagasaki led to the 
destruction in the adjoining provinces of not less than a hundred 





THE REGENT GE-JAS. 


127 


and thirty-seven churches and of many houses which had belonged 
to the Jesuits; and, to appease the authorities, a new embarcation 
of missionaries became necessary, limited, however, by reason of the 
smallness of the vessel, to eleven persons. 

In the midst of these alarms news arrived that the emperor had 
been seized with a sudden and violent sickness, apparently a dysen¬ 
tery, which, after two months’ struggles against it, brought him to 
his end. He died in September, 1598, at the age of sixty-four, 
retaining his absolute authority to the last. During his latter years 
two thoughts seem principally to have engrossed him, — the secur¬ 
ing divine honors to himself, and the transmission of his authority 
to his infant son. Fide Jori, not yet above three or four years old. 
With the first object in view, though really (at least, so the mission¬ 
aries concluded) without any religion at all, he had rebuilt, in a 
magnificent manner, many temples and Buddhist monasteries de¬ 
stroyed by Nobunanga, by himself, or by the accidents of war. He 
also had erected, in a new quarter which he had added to Miako, a 
splendid temple, which he caused to be consecrated to himself in 
the character of the new Fuchiman, that being the title of a Kami 
celebrated for his conquests, and regarded as the god of war. 

To secure the succession of his infant son, the expiring emperor 
established, on his death-bed, a council of regency, composed of 
nine persons, at the head of which he placed He-jas or Giazu, king 
of the Bandova, which, besides the five provinces of the Quanto, 
in which were the great cities of Seruga and J edo, embraced, also, 
three other kingdoms. Ge-jas had been king of Micava, a more 
westerly province, which he had lost by adhering to the fortunes of 
the third son of Nobunanga, he being allied to that family by mar¬ 
riage. But afterwards, by some means, he had recovered the favor 
of Taiko-Sama, who had even bestowed upon him the newly-con¬ 
quered Bandova, and who, the better to secure his fidelity, had 
caused his infant son and destined successor to be married to a 
young grand-daughter of Ge-jas. 

The strong castle of Osaka had been chosen by Taiko-Sama as 
the residence of his son during his minority, and there he dwelt 
with his baby wife, in charge of his mother, while the administration 
of afiairs passed into the hands of Ge-jas, who, as head of the 
regency, governed with the title of Daysu-Sama. 





CHAPTER XIX. 

EVACUATION OF COREA. — BETUBN OF THE CONVERTED PRINCES. — FAVOR¬ 
ABLE DISPOSITION OF DAYSU-SAMA. —THIRD VISIT OF FATHER VALIGNANI. 

_CIVIL WAR BETWEEN DAYSU-SAMA AND HIS CO-REGENTS. • HIS TRI 

UMPH —DISGRACE AND EXECUTION OF TSUKAMIDONO. — DAYSU-SAMA TAKES 
the title of OGOSHO-SAMA, and still FAVORS THE CONVERTS. — INFLUX 
OF DOMINICAN AND FRANCISCAN FRIARS. — FLOURISHING CONDITION OF 
THE CHERCH.-LOCAL PERSECUTIONS.-A. D. 1599-1609. 

The first act of the regency was to put an end to the war in 
Corea. That country was abandoned * and the return of so many 
converted princes greatly strengthened the lately sufiering church. 
Father Rodriguez had always been on good terms with Raysu-Sama, 
with whom he had become acquainted at the court of the late em¬ 
peror. This head of the regency was even thought to be well dis¬ 
posed to the new religion, and the converted princes, in conjunction 
with Father Valignani, who, just before the death of Taiko-Sama, 
had reached Japan for the third time, in company with a new 
bishop, proceeded gradually and unostentatiously to reestablish the 
missionaries, to rebuild the churches, and to set up again the college 
and seminaries, till soon the Catholic faith seemed to be replaced 
on almost as firm a basis as ever. For a time, indeed, things were 
thrown into confusion by a civil war which soon broke out betwe^in 
Daysu-Sama and his co-regents. Some of the Catholic princes lost 
their provinces as adherents of the defeated party, and among the 
rest, that distinguished pillar of the church, Tsukamidono, the grand 
admiral, king of Fingo and conqueror of Corea, who, for his share 
in this business, perished by the hand of the executioner, — his 

* Yet the Japanese are said to maintain to this day a garrison on the coast 
(Golownin, vol. iii., ch. 9), and to receive tribute from Corea ; but this 
seems doubtful. 


FRIARS FROM THE PHILIPPINES. 


129 


religious opinions not allowing him to adopt the Japanese alterna¬ 
tive of cutting himself open. But the victorious regent, who pres¬ 
ently took the title of Ogosho-Sama, and with it the entire imperial 
authority (though the boy, Fide Jori, still enjoyed the title of 
Kubo-Sama), showed himself so far favorable to the Jesuits (to 
the headship of whom Father Francis Fazio had lately succeeded 
as vice-provincial), as to permit their reestablishment at Nagasaki, 
Miako and Osaka. Yet an edict of his, restraining the missionaries 
to their ancient seats, and forbidding the accession of new converts, 
though little regarded, showed the necessity of caution. 

Pope Clement VII. having promulgated a bull in December, 
1600 , by which all the mendicant orders were allowed to go as mis¬ 
sionaries to Japan, provided they proceeded by way of Portugal, 
and not by the Philippines, Dominican and Franciscan friars 
took advantage of this favorable disposition of the emperor to enter 
that empire, the Franciscans reoccupying their old station at Miako, 
and setting up a new one at Jedo, where the Jesuits had never 
been. This was the seat of the emperor’s son, whom, according to 
the Japanese custom, he had associated with him in the empire. 
He himself had his residence at Seruga, no great distance to the 
west. The young Fide Jori, the titular Kubo-Sama, still dwelt in 
the castle of Osaka, Miako being given up exclusively to the Dairi, 
or ecclesiastical emperor. The prohibition to pass from the Philip¬ 
pines to Japan was little regarded. As there was no civil arm to 
enforce it, the friars laughed at the excommunication denounced by 
the Pope’s bull. The Jesuits, on the other hand, did not submit to 
this invasion without loud complaints. 

In the Tensa, or five provinces nearest to Miako, and including, 
also, the cities of Sakai and Osaka, the ancient imperial domain, 
the adherents of the new religion were seldom molested, and the 
governor of Miako even built a magnificent church for the Jesuits 
in the upper city, in addition to one which they already possessed in 
the lower city. An observatory at Osaka had gained additional 
credit for their religion by displaying their scientific knowledge. A 
seminary for nobles was reopened at Nagasaki, and, by the special 
zeal of Father Griiecchi, hospitals for lepers, which had been from 
the first a favorite charity, were set up at Osaka and in several 
other cities. By the favor of particular princes, Jesuit mission- 



130 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1509—IGOa. 


aries even penetrated into the more remote and hitherto unvisited 
provinces. Persecution, however, still went on within the jurisdic¬ 
tion of several of the local rulers, especially in the island of Ximo; 
and some of the converted princes, having apostatized, became them¬ 
selves persecutors. But the bishop, having made a journey to Miako 
in 1606, was very favorably received by the Kubo-Sama — a circum¬ 
stance not without its influence in all the local courts. 

Such was the state of things in Japan when the hold of the 
Portuguese and the Jesuits upon that country, already shaken 
by the consolidation of the empire under one head, and by the 
intrusion of Pominican and Franciscan friars and Spanish mer¬ 
chants and negotiators, encountered a still more alarming disturb¬ 
ance from the appearance of the Dutch flag in the eastern seas.* 

* Feather V<alignam died in 1606, at Macao, whither he had gone to look 
after the Chinese missions, a few Jesuits having at length got admission into 
that empire. Father Rodriguez, in his annual letter of 1606, fi'om iNIiako, in 
noticing Valignani’s death, speaks of him as justly entitled to be called the 
apostle of the missions of Japan and China, — a title, indeed, which he had 
already received from the king of Portugal. Purchas, who published a few 
years later, mentions him as the “great Jesuit.” He enjoyed in his own 
day, and deservedly, a reputation quite equal to that of our most famous 
modern missionaries ; but these missionaiy reputations are apt not to be 
very long-lived. Five of his letters are in the collection of Hay, De Rebus 
Japonic is, &c. 

The death of Father Louis Froez has been mentioned in the previous chapter. 
We have of his letters, in Maflfei’s Select Epistles, nine, written between the 
years 1563 and 1573 ; and in Hay’s collection eight, written between 1577 
and 1596. Many of these are of great length. That of February, 1565, con¬ 
tains a curious account of what he saw at Miako, on his going thither with 
Almeida to aid Vilela, who had labored there alone for six years with only 
Japanese assistants. The translation of it in Hackluy t has an important pas¬ 
sage in the beginning, giving a general account of the Japanese, not in the 
Latin editions that I have seen. Those in Hay’s collection are rather reports 
than letters. That of 1586 contains an account of Valignani’s first interview 
with Taiko-Sama, that of 1592 a full account of Valignani’s embassy, the 
second of 1595 the history of Taiko-Sama’s quarrel with his nephew, and 
the two of 1596 a full account of the first martyrdoms, and of the state of the 
church at the time. 

Almeida had died in 1583, after a missionary life of twenty-eight years. 
We have five of his letters, which show him a good man, but exceedingly 
credulous, even for a Portuguese Jesuit. 




CHAPTER XX. 


ATTEMPT OF THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH TO DISCOVER A NEW ROUTE TO THE 

FAR EAST.-VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD.-ATTEMPTED ENGLISH VOYAGE 

TO JAPAN.-ENGLISH AND DUTCH VOYAGES TO INDIA.-FIRST DUTCH 

VOYAGE TO JAPAN.-ADAMS, THE ENGLISH PILOT.- HIS ADVENTURES 

AND DETENTION IN JAPAN.* — A. D. 1513—1607. 

For a full century subsequent to the discovery of tbe passage to 
India by the' Cape of Good Hope, the commerce of the Indian seas, 
so far as Europe was concerned, remained almost a complete mo¬ 
nopoly in the hands of the Portuguese. The ancient Venetian com¬ 
merce with India, by the Red Sea, had been speedily brought to an 
end, while the trade carried on over land, by way of Aleppo and the 
Persian Gulf, was mainly controlled by the Portuguese, who held 
possession of Ormus, through which it mostly passed. Nor did the 
Spanish discovery of another passage to India, by the Straits of 
Magellan, and the lodgment which the Spaniards made about the 
year 1570, in the' Philippine Islands, very materially interfere with 
the Portuguese monopoly. The passage by the Straits of Magellan 
was seldom or never attempted, the Spanish trade being confined to 
two annual ships between Acapulco and Manilla. 

It was the desire to share in this East India commerce (which 
made Lisbon the wealthiest and most populous city of Europe), that 
led to so many attempts to discover a north-eastern, a north-western 
and even a northern passage to India (directly over the pole), not 
only as shorter, but as avoiding any collision with the Portuguese 
and Spanish, who did not hesitate to maintain by force their respec¬ 
tive exclusive claims to the passages by the Cape of Good Hope 

* This chapter, also the twenty-second, is taken, with alterations and 
additions, from an article (written by the compiler of this work) in JTctr- 
per's Magazine for Jan., 1854. 


JAPAN.— A. 1). 1598-1G07. 


1 on 

J 


and the Straits of Magellan. These attempts were at first confined 
to the English, beginning with that made bj Sebastian Cabot, on 
his third and last voyage from England. The Dutch and Belgi¬ 
ans were long content to buy Indian merchandise at Lisbon, 
which they resold in the north of Europe ; but after the union of 
the Spanish and Portuguese dominions, in 1580, and the seizure, 
which soon followed, of the Dutch ships at Lisbon, and their exclu¬ 
sion from any trade with Portugal, the Dutch began to entertain, 
even more ardently than the English, the desire of a direct com¬ 
merce with the far East, Drake, in his voyage round the world 
(1577-80), outward by the Straits of Magellan, and homeward by 
the Cape of Good Hope, a track in which he was speedily followed 
by Cavendish (158G-8), led the way to the Indian seas; but the 
failure of Cavendish in a second attempt to pass the Straits of Ma¬ 
gellan, and the capture, a. d. 1594, by Spanish-American cruisers 
in the Pacific, of Sir llichard Hawkins, a son of the famous Sir 
John Hawkins, who had attempted a voyage to Japan by the same 
route, served to keep up the terrors of that passage. 

Meanwhile, Captain Lancaster, as early as 1592, accomplished 
the first English voyage to India by the Cape of Good Hope. After 
a rather disastrous voyage, he returned in 1594, having been greatly 
delayed by his ignorance of the monsoons. A second expedition, des¬ 
tined for China, sailed in 1596, but perished miserably at sea. It is 
to the Dutch that the credit mainly belongs of first breaking in upon 
the Portuguese and Spanish monopoly of Indian commerce. * 

Among other Dutch ship captains and merchants who had been 
thrown into prison at Lisbon, was Cornelius Houtman, who im¬ 
proved that opportunity to acquire, by conversation with Portu¬ 
guese seamen, a knowledge of the Indian seas; and it was by his 
persuasions that tlie merchants of Amsterdam, associating as an 
East India Company, fitted out, in 1695, eight vessels, — four to 
renew the experiment of a north-eastern passage, and four to pro¬ 
ceed to India by the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage of the first 
four, under the direction of Hugh Linsehooten,* who had lately 
returned from Goa, where he had resided six years in the service of 
the archbishop, resulted in the discovery of Nova Zembla, beyond 


See Appendix, note E. 




DUTCH AND ENGLISH VOYAGES TO THE EAST. 138 


which, neither this expedition nor two subsequent ones were able 
to proceed. The four other ships, under the charge of Houtman, 
reached the west coast of Java, and, in spite of the arts and 
opposition of the Portuguese, whom they found established at Ban¬ 
tam, in that island, they opened a trade with the natives, not with¬ 
out an occasional intermixture of hostilities, in which they lost 
more than half their numbers, besides being obliged to abandon and 
burn one of their vessels. The other three ships returned to Hol¬ 
land in 1598. This voyage had not been profitable; yet the actual 
commencement of the long desired Indian trafiic greatly stimulated 
the hopes of the merchants, and that same year not less than four 
distinct India squadrons were fitted out — one of two vessels, under 
Houtman; another, under Jacques Mahay, of five vessels, known 
as Verhagen’s fleet, from the chief promoter of the enterprise; a 
third, of three vessels, under Oliver Noort; and a fourth, of not 
less than eight vessels, set forth by a new East India association, 
including not only the merchants of Amsterdam, but those of the 
other cities of the province of Holland, rudiment of the afterwards 
so celebrated Hutch East India Company. The first and last of 
these expeditions proceeded by the Cape of Good Hope. The other 
two were to attempt the passage by the Straits of Magellan. 

The Hutch merchants were at this time much richer than those 
of England, and for these enterprises of theirs to India they ob¬ 
tained the assistance of quite a number of adventurous Englishmen. 
Houtman had an English pilot, named Havis; Noort carried, in the 
same capacity, Thomas Melis, who had made the voyage round the 
world with Cavendish. The fleet of Mahay had two English pilots, 
William Adams and Timothy Shotten, with the former of whom, as 
being the first Englishman who ever reached Japan, and long a res¬ 
ident there, our narrative has /to do. 

I 

Born, according to his 0 \ ;int, on the banks of the Med¬ 
way, between Ilochester and j, Adams, at the age of twelve, 

had commenced a seafaring life, apprentice to Master Nicholas Hig¬ 
gins, of Limehouse, near London, whom he served for twelve years. 
He acted afterward as master and pilot in her majesty’s (Queen 
Elizabeth’s) ships. Then, for eleven or twelve years, he was em- 
jiloyed by the worshipful company of the Barbary merchants. The 
Hutch traffic with India beginning, desirous, as he tells us, “ to 
12 



134 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1513—1607. 


make a little experience of the small knowledge which God had 
given him,” he was induced to enter that service. 

Mahay’s squadron, in which Adams sailed'as chief pilot, con¬ 
sisted of the Hope, of two hundred and fifty tons and one hundred 
and thirty men, the Faith, of one hundred and fifty tons and one 
hundred and nine men, the Charity, of one hundred and sixty tons 
and one hundred and ten men, the Fidelity, of one hundred tons 
and eighty-six men, and the Good News, of seventy-five tons and 
fifty-six men; but these names of good omen did not save these 
small and over-crowded vessels from a succession of disasters, too 
common in the maritime enterprises of those days. They left the 
Texel the 24th of June, and on the 21st of August reached the 
Cape Verde Islands, where they remained twenty-one da 3 ^s to re¬ 
fresh the men, of whom many were sick with scurvy, including 
IMahay, their chief commander, who died soon after they had re¬ 
commenced their voyage. Encountering contrary winds and heavy 
rains, they were forced to the coast of Guinea, and landed on Cape 
Gonsalves, just south of the line. The sick were set on shore, and 
soon after, a French sailor came aboard, who promised to do them 
all favor with the negro king. The country could furnish very few 
supplies ; and as the sick recovered from the scurvy, those hitherto 
well began to suffer from fever. 

In this state of distress they set sail for the coast of Brazil; but 
falling in soon after with the island of Annabon, in the Gult of 
Guinea, they landed, took the town, which contained eighty houses, 
and obtained a supply of oxen, and of oranges and other fruits; 
but still the men continued to die, of whom they buried more than 
thirty on this island. 

Two months were thus sp6v^ 'e African coast. The ships, 
setting sail again about the | ^f November, were greatly 

delayed by one of the vessels/ jr mainmast, and it was five 

months before they reached the Straits of Magellan, the crews 
durino' most of that time on short allowance, and driven to 

O 

such extremity as to eat the calf-skins with which the ropes were 
covered. 

Having entered the straits the beginning of April, 1599, they 
obtained a good supply of penguins for food; but the commander 
stopping to wood and water, they were overtaken by the winter, 




FIRST DUTCH VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC. 


135 


then just setting in, during which they lost more than a hundred 
men by cold and hunger, and were thus detained — though, accord¬ 
ing to Adams, there were many times when they might have gone 
through — till the 24th of September, when at last they entered the 
South Sea. 

A few days after, they encountered a violent storm, by which the 
ships were separated. Capt. Wert, with the Faith and Fidelity, was 
driven back into the straits, where he fell in with Oliver Noort, who 
had left Holland a few days after the Verhagen fleet, had followed 
in the same track, had encountered many of the same difficulties, but 
who, more fortunate, not only passed the strait, but succeeded in com¬ 
pleting the fourth circumnavigation of the globe, — a feat accom¬ 
plished before his voyage only by the ships of Magellan, Drake and 
Cavendish. As Noort was unable to afford him any aid, Wert aban¬ 
doned the enterprise, and returned with his two ships to Holland. 

The other three ships steered separately for the coast of Chili, 
where a rendezvous, in the latitude of forty-six degrees, had been 
appointed. The Charity, in which Adams was, on reaching the 
place of rendezvous, found some Indian inhabitants, who at first 
furnished sheep in exchange for bells and knives, with which they 
seemed well satisfied, but who shortly after disappeared, probably 
through Spanish influence. Having waited twenty-eight days, and 
hearing nothing of her consorts, the Charity ran by Valdivia to 
the island of Mocha, and thence toward the neighboring island of 
Santa Maria. Seeing on the main land near by a number of peo¬ 
ple, boats were sent for a parley; but the people would suffer 
none to land from the boats, at which they shot a multitude of 
arrows. “ Nevertheless,” says Adams, “ having no victuals in our 
ship, and hoping to find refreshing, we forcibly landed some seven- 
and-twenty or thirty of our men, and drove the wild people from 
the water-side, having the most of our men hurt with their arrows. 
Having landed, we made signs of friendship, and in the end came 
to parley, with signs that our desire was to have victuals for iron, 
silver and cloth, which we showed them. Whereupon they gave 
our folks wine, with batatas (sweet potatoes), and other fruits, and 
bade them, by signs and tokens, to go aboard, and the next day to 
come again, and they would bring us victuals.” 

The next day, after a council, in which it was resolved not to 



136 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1613—1607. 


land more than two or three men at once, the captain approached 
the shore with all the force he had. Great numbers of peojjle were 
seen, who made signs for the boats to land ; and in the end, as the 
people would not come near the boats, twenty-three men landed 
with muskets, and marched up toward four or five houses; but 
before they had gone the distance of a musIcQt-shot, they found 
themselves in an ambush, and the whole, including Thomas Adams, 
a brother of William, the chief pilot, were slain or taken. “ So our 
boats waited long,” says Adams, “ to see if any of them would come 
again; but seeing no liope to recover them, our boats returned, 
with this sorrowful news, that all our men that landed were slain, 
which was a lamentable thing to hear, for we had scarce so many 
men left as could wind up our anchor.” 

After waiting a day longer, they went over to the neighboring 
island of Santa Maria, where they found the Hope, which had just 
arrived, but in as great distress as themselves, having, at the island 
of 3Jocha, the day before the Charity had passed there, i jst their 
commander and twenty-seven men in an attempt to' hmd to obtain 
provisions. Some provisions were finally got, by detaining two 
Spaniards, who came to visit the ships, and requiring them to pay a 
ransom in sheep and oxen. It was proposed to burn one of tlie 
ships, as there were not men enough for both; but the new captains, 
of whom the one in command of the Charity was named Quacker- 
nack, could not agree whicli of the ships to Imrn. 

At length, the men being somewhat refreshed, a tx)uncil was 
called to consider what should 1)0 done to make tlie^ybyage as 
profitaljle as possible to the merchants. It was stated; Jr)' one of 
the sailors, who had been to Japan in a Portuguese ship,, that wool¬ 
len cloth, of which they had much on board, was good merchandise 
there; and considering that the Moluccas, and most parts of tlie 
East Indies, were not countries in which woollen cloths Avoiild be 
likely to be very acceptable; hearing also from the people on shore 
that Spanish cruisers were after them, — by whom, in fact, their 
third vessel was captured, news of their intentions and force having 
been sent from Spain to Peru about the time of their departure Irom 
Holland, — it was finally resolved to stand away for Japain.^jeav- 
ing the coast of Chili on the 27th of November, and standing north¬ 
westerly across the equator for three or four months, they liad the* 




RESOLUTION TO SAIL FOR JAPAN. 


137 


trade-wind and pleasant weather. In their way, they encountered 
a group of islands somewhere about 16 degrees of north latitude 
(perhaps the Sandwich Islands), to which eight of their men ran 
off with the pinnace, and were eaten, as was supposed, by the 
islanders, who, by the report of one who was taken, were cannibals. 

In the latitude of 27 degrees north, the vessels, encountering vari¬ 
able winds and stormy weather, were separated. The Hope was 
never more heard of; the Charity still kept on her course, though 
with many of her men sick, and others dead: when, on the 11th 
of April, being then in great misery, with only four or five men, 
out of a company of four-and-twenty, able to walk, and as many 
more to creep on their knees, the whole expecting shortly to die, at 
last they made the hoped-for land — which proved to be the eastern 
coast of Ximo. They were immediately boarded by numerous 
boats, which they had no force to resist; but the boatmen offered 
no injury beyond stealing what they could conveniently lay their 
hands on. This, however, was put a stop to the next day by the 
governor of the neighboring district, who sent soldiers on board to 
protect the cargo, and who treated the crew with great kindness, 
furnishing them with all necessary refreshments, and giving them a 
house on shore for their sick, of whom nine finally died. 

For some days the only conversation was by signs; but, before 
long, a Portuguese Jesuit, with some other Portuguese, arrived 
from Nagasaki, on the opposite western coast of the island. 

The Dutch now had an interpreter; but, what with religious and 
what with national antipathies, little was to be hoped from a Jesuit 
and a Portuguese. In fiict, the Portuguese accused them of being 
pirates, and two of their own company, in hopes to get control of 
the cargo, turned traitors, and plotted with the Portuguese. After 
nine days the emperor sent five galleys, in which Adams, attended 
by one of the sailors, was conveyed to Osakaydistant about eighty 
leagues. Here he found the emperor, “ in a Vonderfiil costly house, 
gilded with gold in abundance,” who, in several interviews, treated 
him with great kindness, and was very inquisitive as to his country 
and the cause of his coming. Adams replied that the English were 
a people who had long sought out the East Indies, desiring friend¬ 
ship, in the way of trade, with all kings and potentates, and having 
in their country divers commodities which might be exchanged to 
12 * 



138 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1698—1607. 


mutual advantage. The emperor then inquired if the people of 
Adams’ country had no wars. He answered that they had with the 
Spanish and Portuguese, but were at peace with all other nations. 
He also inquired as to Adams’ religious opinions, and the way in 
which he got to Japan; but when Adams, by way of answer, ex¬ 
hibited a chart of the world, and pointed out the passage through 
the Straits of Magellan, he showed plain signs of incredulity. 

Notwithstanding this friendly reception, Adams was ordered back 
to prison, where he was kept for nine-and-thirty days, expecting, 
thouirh well treated, to be crucified, which he learnt was the custom- 
ary mode of execution in that country. 

In fact, as he afterwards discovered, the Portuguese were em¬ 
ploying this interval in poisoning the minds of the natives against 
these new-comers, whom they represented as thieves and common 
sea-robbers, whom it was necessary to put to death to prevent any 
more of their freebooting countrymen from coming, to the ruin of 
the Japanese trade. But at length the emperor gave this answer: 
that, as these strangers had as yet done no damage to him nor to 
any of his people, it would be against reason and justice to put 
them to death; and, sending again for Adams, after another long 
conversation and numerous iiupiries, he set him at liberty, and gave 
him leave to visit the ship and his companions, of whom, in the 
interval, he had heard nothing. He found them close by, the ship 
having in the interval been brought to Sakai, within seven or eight 
miles of Osaka. The men had suftered nothing, but the ship had 
been completely stripped, her whole company being thus left with 
only the clothes on their backs. The emperor, indeed, ordered 
restitution; but the plundered articles were so dispersed and con¬ 
cealed that nothing could be recovered, except fifty thousand rials 
in silver (five thousand dollars), which had formed a part of the 
cargo, and which was given up to the officers as a fund for their 
support and that of the men. Afterward the ship was taken still 
eastward to a port near Jedo. All means were used to get her clear, 
with leave to depart, in which suit a considerable part of the money 
was spent; till, at the end of two years, the men refusing any longer 
to obey Adams and the master, the remaining money was, “ for 
quietness’ sake,” divided, and each was left to shift for himself. 
The emperor, however, added an allowanee to each man of two 




ADAMS AND HIS COMPANIONS. 


139 


pounds of rice a day, besides an annual pension in money amount¬ 
ing to about twenty-four dollars. In Adams’ case this pension was 
afterward raised to one hundred and forty dollars, as a reward for 
having built two ships for the emperor on the European model. 
Adams’ knowledge of mathematics also proved serviceable to him, 
and he was soon in such favor as to be able, according to his own 
account, to return good for evil to several of his former maligners. 
The emperor acknowledged his services, and endeavored to content 
him by giving him “ a living like unto a lordship in England, with 
eighty or ninety husbandmen as his servants and slaves 
still pined for home, and importuned for leave to depart, desiring, 
as he says, “ to see his poor wife and children, aCccording to con¬ 
science and nature.” This suit he again renewed, upon hearing 
from some Japanese traders that Dutch merchants had established 
themselves at Acheen in Sumatra, and Patania on the east coast of 
Malacca. He promised to bring both the Dutch and English to 
trade in Japan; but all he could obtain was leave for the Dutch 
captain and another Dutchman to depart. This they presently did, 
for Patania, in a Japanese junk, furnished by the king or prince of 
Firando, whence they proceeded to Jor, at the southern end of the 
peninsula of Malacca, where they found a Dutch fleet of nine sail. 
In this fleet the Dutch captain obtained an appointment as master, 
but was soon after killed in a sea-fight with the Portuguese, with 
whom the Dutch were, by this time, vigorously and successfully 
contending for the mastership of the eastern seas.* 

* An account of Adams’ voyage in two letters of his from Japan, may be 
found in Purchas His Pilgriines, part i., book in., sect. 5. Purchas also 
gives, book ii., chap, v.. Captain Wert’s adventures and return ; and in 
book III., chap, i., sect. 4, a narrative by Davis, who acted as chief pilot of 
the first Dutch voyage to the East Indies, under Houtman. Hackluyt gives, 
in his second volume, a narrative of Lancaster’s voyage, taken down from the 
mouth of Edmund Baker, Lancaster’s lieutenant. Henry May’s narrative 
of the same voyage is given in Hackluyt’s second volume. What is known of 
the English expedition fitted out in 1594, will be found in Hackluyt, vol. 
iv., and Pilgrimes, book iii., chap, i., sect. 2. The English East India Com¬ 
pany was formed in 1600, and Lancaster was immediately despatched on a 
second voyage “ with four tall ships and a victualler,” and by him the Eng¬ 
lish trade was commenced. — Pilgriines, book iii., chap. iii.. sect. 1. 



CHAPTER XXI. 


SPANISH FRIARS IN JAPAN.-EXTENSION OP JAPANESE TRADE,-PROGRESS 

OF THE DUTCH IN THE EASTERN SEAS.—THEY OPEN A TRADE WITH JAPAN. 

-emperor’s letter.-SHIPWRECK OF DON RODRIGO DE VIVERO ON THE 

JAPANESE COAST. — HIS RECEPTION, OBSERVATIONS AND DEPARTURE.- 

DESTRUCTION OF A PORTUGUESE CARAC BY THE JAPANESE.-ANOTHER 

DUTCH SHIP ARRIVES.-SPEX’S CHARTER.-EMBASSIES FROM MACAO AND 

NEW SPAIN.-FATHER LOUIS SOTELO AND HIS PROJECTS.-A. D. 1607—1618. 

The Dutch and English, though they had not yet reached J apan, 
were already, especially the Dutch, making great progress in the 
Indian seas ; but it was not by them alone that the Portuguese 
monopoly of Japanese commerce and Japanese conversion was 
threatened. 

Taking advantage of the bull of Clement YII., already referred to, 
a multitude of Spanish friars from Manilla poured into Japan, whose 
first and chief business it was, according to the Jesuit letter-writers 
and historians, to declaim with vehemence against the conduct of the 
fathers of the Company, whom they represented as altogether too 
circumspect, reserved and timid, in the publication of the Gospel. 
The fanaticism of these Spanish friars was excessive, in illustration of 
which the Jesuit historians relate, with malicious satisfaction, the fol¬ 
lowing story: One of them, m a dispute with one of the shipwrecked 
Hollanders of Adams’ company (perhaps with Adams himself), to 
sustain the authority of the Catholic church, appealed to its miracu¬ 
lous power, and when this obstinate Dutch heretic questioned the 
reality of any such power, and challenged an exhibition of it, the 
fanatical missionary undertook to convince him by walking himself 
on the sea. A day was appointed for the miracle. The Spaniard 
prepared himself by confession, prayer and fasting. A crowd of 
Japanese assembled to see it, and the friar, after a confident ex¬ 
hortation to the multitude, stepped, crucifix in hand, into the water, 


THE SPANIARDS OF MANILLA. 


141 


certain of being buoyed up by faith and providence. But he was 
soon floundering over his head, and was only saved from drowning 
by some boats sent to his assistance; nor did this experiment add 
much either to the faith of the Dutchman, or to the docility of the 
Japanese. About the same time, also, the institution of parish 
priests was introduced; but this, like the admission of friars, led 
only to new disputes and collisions. 

The merchants of Manilla, no less than the monks, still looked 
with longing eyes in the direction of Japan, anxious to share in its 
commerce ; and Don Bodrigo de Vivero, upon his accession to that 
government, by way of conciliation, discharged from confinement 
and sent home some two hundred Japanese, whom he found impris¬ 
oned there, either by way of retaliation for the confiscation of the 
San Philip and the execution of the Spanish missionaries, or for 
some other cause. 

Besides these European rivals, a dangerous competition in the way 
of trade seems to have been threatened on the part of the Japanese 
themselves, who appear to have been much more adventurous at 
this time, whether in point of navigation or the visiting of foreign 
countries, than the present jealous policy of their government per¬ 
mits. Japanese vessels frequented Manilla for the purchase of rich 
China silks, which formed the chief article of export from Macao 
to Japan, the policy of China and the relations of Japan towards 
her not allowing a direct trade. Japanese vessels appeared even 
in the Pacific Spanish American ports. It is to this period that 
the Japanese ascribe the conquest by the king of Saxmna of the 
Lew Chew Islands; and Macao, Siam and Annam are enumerated, 
on Japanese authority, as additional places to which Japanese 
vessels traded.* 

The Portuguese seem, on the other hand, to have had little left 
of that courage and spirit by which their forefathers of the pre¬ 
ceding century had been so distinguished. The Dutch cruisers in 
the East Indies proved a great annoyance to them. In 1603, they 
blockaded Goa, and the same year Hemkirk took the carac of 
Macao, a prize of fourteen hundred tons, and valued, with her 

* See Klaproth’s translation (J\'ov. Journal Jlsiatique, tom. ii.) of a curi¬ 
ous .Japanese tract, on the Wealth of Japan, written in 1708. 




142 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1607—1G18. 


cargo, at several millions of florins. When the Dutch, under 
Matelief, attacked Malacca, in 1606, the Portuguese were greatly 
indebted to a small body of Japanese, who formed a part of the 
garrison, for their success in repelling the assault. On the other 
hand, in 1608, a large number of Japanese, obliged to winter at 
Macao, got into collision with the Portuguese authorities of that 
city, who suspected them of a design to seize the place, and who, in 
consequence, put a number of them to death. During this and the 
two preceding years the annual Portuguese carac had been pre¬ 
vented from sailing from Macao by fear of Dutch cruisers; and, 
with the effect of this interruption of intercourse and of the bad 
feeling produced by the collision at Macao, still other circumstances 
cooperated to endanger the Portuguese ascendency. 

The first was the arrival at Firando, in July, 1609, of the Dutch 
vessel, the Ked Lion, attended by the yacht Griffon. They 
belonged to the fleet of Verhcnven, who had left Holland De¬ 
cember 12th, 1607, with thirteen ships (of which several were of 
a thousand tons burden), nineteen hundred men, and three hun¬ 
dred and seventy-seven pieces of artillery. The Portuguese fleet, 
which sailed, about the same time, from Lisbon, to take out a new 
viceroy to Goa, was composed of eight great caracs and six galleons. 
This fleet was scattered by a storm off the Canaries, and one of the 
galleons, mounting ten cannon, and with one hundred and eighty men, 
fell into Yerhoeven’s hands. He had previously made an unsuccess¬ 
ful attack on Mozambique, but had taken, however, in the harbor 
a carac, mounting thirty-four guns, and loaded with merchandise. 
Off Goa another carac was burnt by the Portuguese, to prevent its 
falling into the hands of the Dutch, who proceeded to Calicut, where 
a treaty of alliance against the Portuguese was entered into with the 
king. • The Dutch then proceeded by Cochin to Johor, on the penin¬ 
sula of Malacca (whence the two ships were despatched to Japan), 
and finally to Bantam and the Moluccas, where the Dutch expected 
that a truce witli Spain, announced by a ship late from Holland, 
would enable them to devote all their strength to guard against the 
English, who were also aiming at an establishment in those islands. 

The ships detached from Johor, equally equipped for trading and 
for fighting, as were all the Indiamen of that period, having missed, 
by being a few days too late, tlie carac of Macao, proceeded to carry 



Ills AUDIENCES OF THE EMPEROR. 


143 


out their instructions for opening a commercial intercourse with 
Japan. They were very kindly received at Firando, whence they 
sent a deputation to the emperor’s court, with presents, in the name 
of the Stadtholder, and were successful in obtaining leave to estab¬ 
lish a factory at Firando, for the supply of which with goods the 
Dutch were to send a ship or two yearly. The Ked Lion, arriving 
in the Texel, July, 1610, carried back the following letter : 

THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN TO THE KING OP HOLLAND. 

“ I, emperor and king of Japan, wish to the king of Holland [prince of 
Orange] who hath sent from so far countries to visit me, greeting. 

“ I rejoice greatly in your writing and sending unto me, and wish that our 
countries Avere nearer the one to the other, whereby we might continue and 
increase the friendship begun betwixt us, through your presence, whom I 
imagine in earnest to see ; in respect I am unknown unto your majesty, and 
that your love towards me is manifested through your libei'ality in honoring 
me Avith four presents, whereof, though I had no need, yet, coming in your 
name, I received them in great worth, and hold them in good esteem. 

“ And further, whereas the Hollanders, your majesty’s subjects, desire to 
trade Avith their shipping in my country (which is of little value and small), 
and to traffic Avith my subjects, and desire to have their abiding near unto 
my court, whereby in person I might help and assist them, which cannot be 
as now, through the inconvenience of the country ; yet, notwithstanding, I 
Avill not neglect, as already I have been, to be careful of them, and to give 
in charge to all my governors and subjects that, in what places and havens, in 
what port soever they shall arrive, they shall show them all favor and friend¬ 
ships to their persons, ships and merchandise ; wherein your majesty or your 
subjects need not to doubt or fear aught to the contrary. For they may 
come as freely as if they came into your majesty’s OAvn havens and countines, 
and so may remain in my country to trade. And the friendship begun be- 
tAveen me and my subjects with you shall never be impaired on my behalf, 
but augmented and increased. 

“ I am partly ashamed that your majesty (whose name and renown through 
your valorous deeds is spread through the whole world) should cause your 
subjects to come from so far countries into a country so unfitting as this is, to 
visit me, and to offer unto me such friendships as I have not deserved. But 
considering that your affection hath been the cause thereof, I could not but 
friendly entertain your subjects, and yield to their requests, whereof this 
shall serve for a testimony ; that they in all places, countries and islands, 
under mine obedience, may trade, and traffic, and build houses serviceable 
and needful for their trade and merchandises, where they may trade without 
any hindrance at their pleasure, as well in time to come as for the present, 
so that no man shall do them any wrong. And I will maintain and defend 
them as mine own subjects. 



144 


JAPAN. — A. P. IfiOT—1C18. 


“ I promise, likewise, tliat the persons whom I understand shall be left 
here, shall now and at all times be lield as recommended unto me, and in 
all things to favor them, whereby your majesty shall find us as your friends 
and neighbors. 

“For other matters passed between me and your majesty’s servants, 
which would be too long here to repeat, I refer myself unto them.” * 

The Dutch were greatly indebted for their success to Foyne- 
Sama, king of Firando, who interested himself greatly in the 
establishment of a Dutch factory in his island. In liict, it had 
been at his expense that the two Dutchmen, shipmates of Adams, 
had some years before been sent to Patania upon their promise to 
induce their countrymen to open a trade to Japan. In addition to 
this outlay, which had amounted to fifteen hundred taels, he had 
furnished the Dutch belonging to the two recently arrived vessels, 
with a galley manned with fifty-six rowers, for their visit to court, 
of which they had the use for two months ; and he had, besides, 
accommodated them by purchasing all their pepper and silk, the 
latter article at a considerable loss to himself. 

Some time previous to the arrival of these Dutch ships, in the 
autumn of 1608, Don Kodrigo de Vivero, the late governor of 
Manilla, returning to New Spain in the galleon, the St. Francis, was 
wrecked on the south-east coast of Nipon. At first it was not 
known what land it was ; but a Japanese Catholic on board soon 
recognized it. The crew, who had escaped to the shore, proceeded 
to a neighboring village, the people of which evinced much com¬ 
passion for them, the women even shedding tears. They gave 
them clothing and food (consisting of rice, pulse and a little fish), 
and sent word to the tone, or lord of the district, who issued 
orders that they should be well treated, but not suffered to 
remove. 

They were soon visited by the tono, who came in great pomp, 
preceded by three hundred men ; some bearing banners, others 
armed with lances, matchlocks and halberts. He saluted Don 
Rodrigo with much politeness, by a motion of his head and hand, 

* This letter is given by Purchas, vol. i., p. 40G. It has neither date nor 
signature, nor docs it appear who is responsible for the correctness of the 
translation. 




DON RODRIGO DE VIVERO. 


145 


and placed him on his left, that being considered the place of honor 
among the Japanese, because the swords are worn on that side. 
He made Don Rodrigo several presents, and took upon himself the 
subsistence of the party, allowing two Spanish officers to proceed 
to the emperor’s court, to communicate to him and to his son and, 
according to the Japanese custom, colleague, the details of the 
case. 

Jedo, where the emperor’s son resided, was about forty leagues 
distant, and Seruga, where the emperor held his court, still forty 
leagues further. The messengers returned in twenty-four days, 
with an officer of the prince, charged with a message of condo¬ 
lence from the emperor, and leave to visit their courts. All the 
property that could be saved from the wreck was given up to the 
Spaniards. 

The first place on their route was a town of ten or twelve thou¬ 
sand inhabitants. The tono took Don Rodrigo to his castle, situ¬ 
ated on a height, and surrounded by a ditch fifty feet deep, passed 
by a drawbridge. The gates were of iron; the walls of solid 
masonry, eighteen feet high, and the same in thickness. Near the 
first gate stood a hundred musketeers, and between that and the 
second gate, which opened through a second wall, were houses, gar¬ 
dens, orchards and rice-fields. The dwelling rooms were of wood, 
exquisitely finished and adorned with a profusion of gold, silver, 
varnish, &c. 

All the way to Jedo the density of the population greatly sur¬ 
prised the Spaniards, who were everywhere well lodged and enter¬ 
tained. They entered that city amid such a crowd, that the ofiicers 
of police had to force a way for them, — and yet the streets were 
very broad. Such crowds collectedv about the house which the 
prince had ordered to be prepared for them, that they had no rest; 
till at last a guard was placed about it, and a tablet set up, pro¬ 
hibiting the populace from molesting them. Of the city, Rodrigo 
gives this description : “ Jedo contains seven hundred thousand 
inhabitants, and is traversed by a considerable river which is navi¬ 
gable by vessels of moderate size. By this river, which divides in 
the interior into several branches, the inhabitants are supplied with 
provisions and necessaries, which are so cheap that a man may live 
comfortabl}'’ for a rial (five cents) a day. The Japanese do not 
Id 






146 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1607—1818. 


make much wheaten bread, though what they do make is excellent. 
The streets and squares of Jedo are very handsome, clean and well 
kept. The houses are of wood, and mostly of two stories. The 
exterior is less imposing than with us, but they are far handsomer 
and more comfortable within. Towards the street the houses have 
covered galleries, and each street is occupied by persons of the same 
calling; carpenters in one, jewellers in another, tailors in another, 
including many trades unknown in Europe. The merchants and 
traders dwell together in the same way. Provisions also are sold 
in places appointed for each sort. I observed a market where 
game was sold; there was a great supply of rabbits, hares, wild 
boars, deer, and other animals which I never saw before. The 
Japanese rarely eat any flesh but that of game, which they hunt. 
The fish market, very extensive and extremely neat and clean, affords 
a great variety of fish, sea and river, fresh and salt; and there were 
large tubs containing live fish. Adjoining the inns are places 
where they let and sell horses, and these places are so numerous, 
that the traveller, who, according to custom, changes his horse every 
league, is only embarrassed where to choose. The nobles and great 
men inhabit a distant part of the city, and their quarter is distin¬ 
guished by the armorial ornaments, sculptured, painted or gilt, 
placed over the doors of the houses, — a privilege to which the 
Japanese nobles attach great value. The political authority is 
vested in a governor, who is chief of the magistracy, civil and mil¬ 
itary. In each street resides a magistrate who takes cognizance, 
in the first instance, of all cases, civil and cnminal, submitting the 
more difficult to the governor. The streets are closed at each end 
by a gate, which is shut at nightfall. At each gate is placed a 
guard of soldiers, with sentinels at intervals ; so that, if a crime is 
committed, notice is conveyed instantly to each end of the street, and, 
the gates being closed, it rarely happens that the offender escapes. 
This description is applicable to all the other cities in the king¬ 
dom.” 

After an interval of two days, the prince sent his secretary, whose 
name was Konsekondono, to invite Don Hodrigo to visit him. The 
palace he describes as enclosed by a wall of immense blocks of free¬ 
stone, put together without cement, with embrasures, at equal dis¬ 
tances, well furnished with artillery. At the foot of this wall was 




DON RODRIGO’S OBSERVATIONS. 


147 


a deep wet ditch, crossed by a drawbridge of a peculiar and very 
ingenious construction. Don Rodrigo passed through two ranks of 
musketeers, about one thousand in number, to the second wall, dis¬ 
tant from the first three hundred paces. At the gate four hundred 
lancers and pikemen were stationed. A third wall, about twelve 
feet high, was guarded by three hundred halberdiers. Within was 
the palace, with the royal 'stables on one side, containing three 
hundred horses, and on the other an arsenal with arms for one 
hundred thousand men. Rodrigo affirms that from the entrance to 
the palace were more than twenty thousand men, not assembled for 
the occasion, but constantly employed and paid for the daily service 
of the court. 

The first apartment of the palace was entirely covered with rich 
ornaments, carpets, stuffs, velvet and gold. The walls were hung 
with pictures representing hunting subjects. Each apartment ex¬ 
ceeded the preceding in splendor, till the further one was reached, 
in which the prince was seated on a superb carpet of crimson velvet, 
embroidered with gold, placed upon a kind of platform, raised two 
steps, in the centre of the apartment. He wore three dresses, one 
over the other, the exterior one green and yellow; in his girdle 
were his longer and shorter swords. His hair was tied up with 
ribbons of different colors, and his head had no other ornament. 
He was about thirty-five years of age; of a brown complexion, a 
pleasing figure and good height. Don Rodrigo was conducted to 
a seat on the left hand of the prince, who conversed with him on a 
variety of indifferent subjects. 

Four days after, the travellers set off for Suruga, on a visit to 
the emperor. The road is thus described : “ On whatsoever side 
the traveller turns his eyes, he perceives a concourse of people pass¬ 
ing to and fro, as in the most populous cities of Europe. The roads 
are lined on both sides with superb pine-trees, which keep off the 
sun. The distances are marked by little eminences planted with 
two trees.” In the hundred leagues between Suruga and Miako, 
several towns were passed, estimated to contain one hundred thou¬ 
sand inhabitants, and a village occurred at every quarter of a league. 
Rodrigo declares himself so delighted with Japan, that, “ if he could 
have prevailed upon himself to renounce his God and his king, he 
should have preferred that country to his own.” 



148 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1607—1618. 


He estimated Suniga to contain from five to six hundred thou¬ 
sand inhabitants. The climate was more agreeable than that of 
Jedo, but the city not so handsome. As at Jedo, a convenient res¬ 
idence was provided for him, which the crowd besieged as they had 
done there. The emperor sent a secretary to compliment him on 
his arrival, with a present of rich dresses, and in about a week he 
had his presentation. He was conveyed in an elegant litter to the 
palace, which was* a fortress like that at Jedo. On the whole, 
there was less display than at the prince’s court, but more marks of 
power and fear. The interview "with the emperor is thus described: 

“ I followed the minister, who conducted me into the presence of the 
sovereign, whom I saluted. He was in a kind of square box, not 
very large, but astonishingly rich. It was placed two steps above 
the floor, and surrounded at four paces’ distance by a gold lattice- 
work, six feet high, in which were small doors, by which the empe¬ 
ror’s attendants went in and out, as they were called from the crowd, 
prostrate on their hands and knees around the lattice.* The mon¬ 
arch was encircled by nearly twenty grandees, ministers or princi¬ 
pal courtiers, in long silk mantles, and trousers of the same mate¬ 
rial, so long that they entirely concealed the feet. The emperor 
was seated on a kind of stool, of blue satin, worked with stars and 
half-moons of silver. In his girdle he wore a sword, and had his 
hair tied up with ribbons of different colors, but had no other head¬ 
dress. His age appeared to be about sixty. He was of the middle 
stature, and of a very full person. His countenance was venerable 
and gracious; his complexion not near so brown as that of the 
prince.” ' 

As if to magnify the emperor, Don llodrigo was detained during 
the introduction of a tono of high rank, who brought presents in 
gold, silver and silk, worth twenty thousand ducats. At a hundred 
paces from the throne he prostrated himself with his face to the 
floor, and remained in this posture for several minutes in perfect 
silence, neither the emperor nor either of the ministers vouchsafing 
a word. He then retired with his suite, consisting of three thousand 
persons. After other exhibitions of the same sort, Don Rodrigo, 
having been directed to make what requests he would, was conducted 

* Most likely this “ box ” was formed by movable screens. See chapter 


XXXVIII. 






RECEPTION BY THE EMPEROR. 


149 


by two ministers to a third apartment, whence other great officers 
escorted him out of the palace with all ceremony. 

Afterwards he was entertained by Konsekondono, the prime min¬ 
ister, at a magnificent collation, the host pledging his health in 
exquisite Japanese wine [saki?] by placing the glass upon his 
head.* The Spaniard presented at this time a memorandum of his 
requests translated into Japanese. They were three — first, that 
the royal protection might be granted to the Christian priests of 
different orders who then resided in the empire, and that they 
might not be molested in the free use and disposal of their houses 
and churches; secondly, that amity might continue between the 
emperor and the king of Spain; and, lastly, that, as an evidence 
of that friendship, the emperor would not permit the Dutch (whose 
arrival has already been mentioned) to reside in his territories, but 
would drive them out — since, besides being enemies of Spain, they 
were little better than pirates and sea-rovers. 

The minister, the next day, after another collation, reported the 
emperor’s answer, who had remarked, with admiration, that Don 
Rodrigo, though destitute, had asked nothing for himself, but had 
regarded only the interests of his religion and his king. The two 
first requests were granted. As to the expulsion of the Hollanders, 
that, the emperor said, “ will be difficult this year, as they have 
my royal word for permission to sojourn in Japan; but I am 
obliged to Don Rodrigo for letting me know what characters they 
are.” The emperor offered the shipwrecked Spaniard one of the 
ships of European model, which the pilot Adams had built for him, 
in which to proceed to New Spain; and he begged him to request 
King Philip to send to Japan fifty miners, as he understood those 
of New Spain to be very skilful, whereas those of Japan did not 
obtain from the ore half the silver it was capable of yielding. 

Don Rodrigo soon after set out for Ximo, where he was to take 
ship. From Seruga to Miako, estimated at one hundred leagues, 
the country was mostly level and very fertile. Several considerable 
rivers were crossed in large ferry-boats by means of a cable 
stretched from bank to bank. Provisions were very cheap. His 

* It is customary among the Japanese, on receiving a present from a 
superior, to touch the top of the head with it. This custom is alluded to in 
the king of Bungo’s letter to the Pope, page 90. 

13 * 



150 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1607—1G18. 


idea of the population of the country grew more and more exagger¬ 
ated. He insists that he did not pass a town of less population 
than one hundred and fifty thousand; and Miako, which he consid¬ 
ers the largest city in the world, he sets down at one million five 
hundred thousand.* Situated upon a highly-cultivated plain, its walls 
were ten leagues in circuit, as Don Rodrigo ascertained by riding 
round them on horseback. It took him an entire day. He enteis 
into a number of details about the Dairi and his court. He was 
powerless, and lived in splendid poverty. The court of the governor 
of Miako, who had six vice-governors under him, was scarcely less 
splendid than that of the emperor. He told Don Rodrigo that this 
city contained five thousand temples and more than fifty thousand 
public women. He showed him a temple, the largest building he 
had seen in Japan, containing statues of all the gods, and another in 
which was an immense bronze statue, the size of which filled him 
with astonishment. “ I ordered,” he says, “ one of my people to 
measure the thumb of the right hand; but, although he was a person 
of the ordinary size, he could not quite encircle it with both arms. 
Rut the size of the statue is not its only merit; the feet, hands, 
mouth, eyes, forehead, and other features, are as perfect and as 
expressive as the most accomplished painter could make a portrait. 
When I first visited this temple it was unfinished; more than one 
hundred thousand men were daily employed upon it. The devil 
could not suggest to the emperor a surer expedient to get rid of his 
immense wealth.” t 

The temple and tomb of Taiko-Sama, raised since his death to 
the rank of the gods, is thus described by Rodrigo, who dej)lores 
the dedication of such an edifice to one whose “ soul is*in hell for 
all eternity.” The entrance was by an avenue paved with jasper, 
four hundred feet by three hundred. On each side, at equal dis¬ 
tances, were posts of jasper, on which were placed lamps lighted at 

* Descriptions of it will be found in chapters xxxvi. and xl., and also a 
census taken in 1690. 

t This image was first set up in the year 1576, by the Emperor Taiko. 
The temple in which it was placed was destroyed by the great earthquake of 
1596. The rebuilding was commenced in 1602. The colossus, however, was 
seriously injured by another earthquake in .1662, after which it was melted 
down, and a substitute prepared of wood covered with gilt paper. For a 
description of it see chapters xxxviii. and xl. 






TOMB OF TAIKO-SAMA. 


151 


night. At the end of this passage was the peristyle of the temple, 
ascended by several steps, and having on the right a monastery of 
priests. The principal gate was encrusted with jasper and overlaid 
with gold and silver ornaments skilfully wrought. The nave of the 
temple was supported by lofty columns. There was a choir, as in 
European cathedrals, with seats and a grating all round. Male and 
female choristers chanted the prayers, much as in Catholic churches, 
and the surplices put Rodrigo in mind of the prebends of Toledo. 
The church was filled with silent devotees. Four of the priests 
accosted him, and seem to have put him to great uneasiness by con¬ 
ducting him to the altar of their “ infamous relics,” surrounded 
with an infinite number of lamps. After raising five or six cur¬ 
tains, covering as many gratings, first of iron, then of silver, and 
the last one of gold, a kind of chest was exposed, in which were con¬ 
tained the ashes of Taiko-Sama. Within this enclosure none but 
the chief priests could enter. All the Japanese present prostrated 
themselves. 

Hastening to quit “ this accursed spot,” Rodrigo was accompa¬ 
nied by the priests to their gardens, exceeding, he says, those of 
Aranjuez. 

Of the religion of Japan he makes the following observations: 
“ The Japanese, like us, use holy, or rather unholy, water, and 
chaplets consecrated to their false gods, Xaka and Nido [Amida], 
which are not the only ones that they worship, for there are no less 
than thirty-five different sects or religions in Japan. Some deny 
the immortality of the soul, others adore divers gods, and others 
yet the elements. All are tolerated. The bonzes of all the sects 
having concurred in a request to the emperor, that he would expel 
our monks, the prince, troubled with their importunities, inquired 
how many difierent religions there were in Japan. ‘ Thirty-five,’ 
was the reply. ‘ Well,’ said he, ‘ where thirty-five sects can be 
■^derated, we can easily bear with thirty-six; — leave the strangers 
in peace.’” He estimates the Christians at three hundred thousand 
— a much more probable number than the eighteen hundred thou¬ 
sand, at which they were reckoned by the missionaries,* whose 
reckoning was the same now that it had been ten years before. 

* The total number of baptisms in Japan, in 1606, according to the annual 




152 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1607—1618. 


From Miako Don Rodrigo proceeded to Faxima (Fucimi) 
adjoining, where he embarked for Osaka, ten leagues down a 
river, as large as the Guadalquivir at Seville, and full of vessels. 
Osaka, built close to the sea, he reckons to contain one million 
inhabitants. Here he embarked in a junk for Nagasaki. Not 
finding his vessel in proper repair, he accepted an invitation 
from the emperor to return to Seruga, where he renewed his endeav¬ 
ors to persuade that prince to expel the Dutch, but without eflect. 
At last, with presents and despatches for the king of Spain, he set 
sail August 1st, 1610, after a stay in Japan of nearly two years.* 

IMeanwhile an event occurred, of which Rodrigo makes no men¬ 
tion, but for which the Portuguese were inclined to hold him 
responsible, no less than the Dutch. The annual carac from Macao 
had arrived, as we have seen, in the autumn of 1609, after an 
interval of three years, commanded, as it happened, by the very 
same person who had been chief magistrate there on occasion of the 
late seizure and execution of certain Japanese. The emperor, 
strengthened, as it was thought, by the expectation of Dutch and 
Spanish trade, encouraged the prince of Arima to revenge the death 
of his subjects who had perished at Macao ; and when the carac was 
ready to sail on her return voyage she was attacked by a fleet of 
Japanese boats. They were two or three times repulsed, but, tak¬ 
ing the carac at a disadvantage, becalmed and drifted into a nar¬ 
row passage, they succeeded in setting her on fire, and in destroying 
her with all her crew. 

Both the Dutch factors who had been left in Japan, and the 
king of that island, Foyne-Sama (or Foie-Sama), who had exerted 
himself greatly for the establishment of Dutch commerce, were not 

letter of that year, was almost three thousand. According to the letter of 
1603, the number of confessions heard that year was eighty thousand. It 
appears from these letters that many female converts were made, among the 
higher classes, by the reputed efficacy of relics and the prayers of the church 
in cases of difficult labor. 

* Don Rodrigo publishedun Spanish a narrative of his residence in Japan. 
Of this very rare and curious work an abstract, with extracts, is given in 
the Asialic Journal, vol. ii., new series, 1880. The Spaniard is rather 
excessive in his estimates of population, but appears to have been sensible and 
judicious. His accounts are well borne out, as we shall see, by those of Saris, 
Kampfer, and others. His whole title was Don Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco. 




SECOND DUTCH VOYAGE THITHER. 


153 


a little annoyed at the non-appearance of any Dutch vessels at 
Firando during the year 1610. The Dutch in the East Indies had, 
indeed, at this moment other things to attend to. Verhoeven, after 
his return to the Moluccas, had been entrapped and treacherously 
slain at Banda, by the natives of that island, along with many of 
his principal officers. This, however, did not prevent the Dutch 
from soon after making a treaty with these islanders, by which they 
obtained the sole right of purchasing their nutmegs and mace, and 
which they followed up by the establishment of not less than seven 
forts in the Molucca Islands, and by vigorous, though as yet unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts to drive away the Spaniards who had come to the 
aid of the Portuguese. 

The Moluccas thus occupied, Admiral Wittert, who had suc¬ 
ceeded to the command of the Dutch fleet, sailed with part of the 
ships for Manilla; for though the truce between Spain and Holland 
was known, it had not been proclaimed in the East Indies, and was 
not regarded by either party. Here, unfortunately, Wittert sufiered 
himself to be surprised by a much superior Spanish force, and though 
he fought with the greatest courage till he fell, his own ship and 
two others were taken, and another blown up, two only making 
their escape. 

Immediately upon the arrival of the Bed Lion in Holland, a 
number of ships had been fitted out for Japan; but the first to 
arrive was a small yacht, called the Brach, in July, 1611, with only 
a trifling cargo of cloths, silks, pepper, ivory and lead. Presently 
a government officer came on board to demand a manifest of the 
cargo to be sent to the emj)eror; but this the Dutch did not like to 
submit to, as the Portuguese were free from it, and especially as 
the present cargo was so trifling. These demands being renewed, 
finally, though somewhat perplexed by the small means they had of 
making presents, they resolved upon a new mission to the emperor’s 
court. The king of Firando advised them also to extend their visit 
to the hereditary prince at Jedo, and not to omit paying their 
respects to Fide Jori, at Osaka, son of the late emperor, and who 
might yet mount the throne. The king of Firando furnished a gal¬ 
ley, in addition to one belonging to the factories, and two commis¬ 
sioners, of whom the principal was Jacob Spex, set out for Seruga, 



154 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1607—1C18. 


July 17, with an interpreter and a Japanese gentleman as a guide 
or conductor.* 

The 6th of August they reached Osaka, defended by a fine castle, 
in which dwelt Fide Jori, now eighteen years of age. He had 
always been kept secluded, but enjoyed a large revenue, and had 
many adherents, by whom, as the Dutch learnt, the hope of placing 
him on the throne was zealously entertained. 

Arriving at lliako, they learnt that a Portuguese embassy had 
passed through it four days preceding. They were deputies from 
31acao, who had landed at Kangoxima in a small vessel, and had 
gone with rich presents to the emperor to solicit a renewal of trade 
and indemnification for the vessels destroyed at Nagasaki two years 
before. Accompanied by a large number of trumpeters and other 
musicians, they marched, with great pomp, to the sound of the 
instruments, the whole of them, even their black slaves, clothed in 
velvet of a uniform color. The governor of Miako, to whom they 
had made rich presents, had furnished them with eighty-eight horses, 
which they had equipped at their own expense. 

Nor was this governor (the same apparently who had entertained 
Don Rodrigo) less bountiful to the Dutch. He furnished them 
with horses, a passport and letters to the chief of the emperor s 
council, but refused their presents, not being accustomed, he said, 
to take anything from strangers. When they pressed him, he still 
refused to accept anything now, but promised, if they had anything 
left at their return, to allow them to remember him — a piece of 
disinterestedness by which the economical Dutch were greatly 
charmed. 

Just before reaching Seruga, they encountered Adams, the Eng¬ 
lish pilot, to whom they had written, and who, upon arriving at 
Seruga, hastened to Konsequidono, the same secretary of the em¬ 
peror seen by Don Rodrigo, but whom the Dutch call president of 
the council, to solicit for them a speedy audience. While waiting 
for it, they learnt that the Portuguese ambassadoi*s had not been 

* There is a narrative of this journey, rather a perplexed one, apparently 
written by Spex himself, added to the Relation of Verhoeven’s voyage in 
Recueil des Voyages qui ont servi a I’establisement dela CompagMe des Indes 
Oriental dans les Provinces Unies. A full abstract of it is in the great 
collection. Hist, Gen. des Voyages, vol. viii. 





SPEX’S NEGOTIATIONS. 


155 


very successful; nor had a Spanish embassy, which had just arrived 
from New Spain, with thanks to the emperor for his courtesies to 
Don Rodrigo. The presents of this ambassador were very splendid; 
but his carriage was so haughty as to displease the Japanese. He 
demanded leave for the Spaniards to build ships, for which the for¬ 
ests and workmen of Japan afforded greater facilities than either 
Manilla or New Spain, and to explore the coasts, the Spaniards’ 
ignorance of which had cost them the loss of some valuable vessels. 
This was agreed to; but the emperor declined the request for the 
expulsion of the Dutch, saying that he had nothing to do with 
these European quarrels. Adams was present at these interviews; 
nor did he fail by his representations to excite the suspicions of the 
emperor against the Spaniards. 

Sionsubrondono, the emperor’s treasurer, freely told the Dutch 
that the Spaniards and Portuguese had represented them as coming 
to Japan rather as privateersmen than as traders, and that, as 
might be seen by the smallness of their present cargo, their chief 
resource for trade was in the prizes they took. But Adams entered 
with great zeal into their defence, insisting upon their honesty and 
fairness as the qualities which had given them such success in trade, 
referring to the recent truce with Spain as showing that plunder 
wa's not their object, and excusing the smallness of the present 
venture by the lack, as yet, of any regular treaty. 

These representations were not without their effect. Konsequidono 
received the Dutch very graciously, approved the requests which 
they made on the subject of trade, and promised to lay them before 
the emperor pending their visit to Jedo, for which he furnished 
them with vessels, horses and guides. With much persuasion he 
was at last induced to accept a present, which the Dutch regarded 
as a special favor, as he had positively declined any from the Por¬ 
tuguese and Spaniards. Before their departure, they were admitted 
to an audience from the emperor, who inquired of them how many 
soldiers they had in the Moluccas whe^er they traded to Borneo; 
whether it were true that the best camphor came from that island ; 
what odoriferous woods the Dutch had in their country ; and other 
similar questions, to which they replied through their interpreter. 


They had about four hundred, and the Spaniards about twice as many, 




15G 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1G07—ItiSl. 


After they had taken their leave, Konsequidono and Sionsubrondono 
reeonducted them out of the hall, at the same time felicitating them 
on their favorable audience. It was very unusual, they said, for 
the emperor to make himself ^so familiar ; he did not bestow such, 
a favor even on the greatest lords of the empire, who brought 
him presents of the value of ten, twenty and thirty thousand taels; 
nor had he said a single word to the Portuguese and Spanish 
ambassadors. To Adams, who was called back to the royal apart 
ments, the emperor expressed himself greatly delighted with the 
presents, as showing that the Dutch were “ past masters ” in arts 
as well as in arms. 

The Dutchmen, having caused their propositions to be written out 
in Japanese, placed them in the hands of Konsequidono, and, on the 
18 th, they were furnished with an order for ten horses, and a 
letter to the hereditary prince at Jedo. Adams, who was in as 
great favor at this court as at Seruga, lodged them in a house of 
his own, and undertook to give notice of their arrival to Sadudono, 
president of the prince’s council and father of Konsequidono, who 
sent an officer in return to make his compliments to the Dutchmen. 

They made him a visit the next day, with a present, which, as a 
great favor, he condescended to accept. He inquired of them par¬ 
ticularly the cause of the war which had lasted so long between the 
Spaniards and the Dutch, and the history of the negotiations which 
had brought about the recent truce. The Dutch did not conceal 
the small extent of their country, and the Japanese minister ex¬ 
pressed great astonishment that so feeble a state should have resisted 
with such success so povv-erful a king. Finally, he treated them to 
a collation of fruit. Though very old and infirm, he conducted 
them to the passage, and promised to accompany them the next day 
to the palace. Admitted to the imperial palace, the prince 
thanked them for the journey they had undertaken to see him; 
but when (pretending orders from Holland to that effect) they 
besought his favor and protection, he dismissed them with a 
nod. An officer, however, conducted them over the palace, and the 
prince sent them some presents, though not very magnificent ones. 
They themselves made many presents, principally cloth and glass 
bottles, to many lords of the court, among whom they found, in 
high favor, a brother of the young king of Firando. 





SPEX’S CHARTER. 


157 


From Jedo they proceeded to a port eighteen leagues distant, 
(probably Uragawa), where Adams had another house, and where 
they found the Spanish ship which had brought the ambassa¬ 
dor from New Spain. The ambassador himself was also there. 
He sent them a very civil message, to which they responded with 
equal civility. Pressing invitations for a visit passed between them, 
but neither party would be the first to call on the other. By some 
Flemings, however, attached to the ambassador’s suite, they were 
assured that the ambassador had no authority to demand the ex¬ 
clusion ot the Butch, which he had done on his own authority. 
The embassy, they said, had been fitted out at an expense of fifty 
thousand dollars. 

Upon their return to Seruga, October 1st, Adams brought them 
the patent which the emperor had granted for their commerce, and 
which, being translated, proved to be in the following words : 

All Dutch ships that come into my empire of Japan, whatever place or 
port they put into, we do hereby expressly command all and every one of 
our subjects not to molest the same in any way, nor to be a hindrance to 
them ; but, on the contrary, to show them all manner of help, favor and 
assistance. Every one shall beware to maintain the friendship in assurance 
of which we have been pleased to give our imperial word to these people ; and 
every one shall take care that our commands and promises be inviolably kept. 

“ Dated (according to the Japanese calendar equivalent to) August 30, 
1611.”» 

The Butch were very much troubled to find that the clause 
guaranteeing freedom from the visits of inspectors and guards, 
and interference with their trade by the government, which had 
been the great object of their mission, was omitted. They made 
representations on the subject to Konsequidono, who advised them 
not to press it. But as they conceived it of the greatest impor¬ 
tance, they drew up a Japanese memorial, which Adams presented 
to the emperor, and the request of which Konsequidono seconded 
with such effect that the emperor ordered an edict granting the 
wishes of the Butch to be drawn up, which he immediately proceeded 
to sign. Such is the statement in Spex’s narrative; but no such 

* Kampfer gives ibis translation, and also a fac-simile of tbe original 
Japanese. The same translation is also given by Spex. 

14 






158 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1607-1618. 


document appears to be preserved in tbe archives of the Diitch 
fiictory, the short one already given being everywhere <^ted and 
relied upon as the charter of the Dutch trade to Japan, without 
any mention anywhere else of any such supplement to it. 

The return of the Dutchmen, by way of Miako, to Firando,*^oes 
not offer anything remarkable, except their meeting at Sakai 
(whither they went to learn the price of goods and the course of 
trade there), with Melichor von Santvoort, one of the Dutchmen 
who had reached Japan at the same time with Adams. After 
selecting factors to stay behind, ordering the erection of warehouses, 
and making such presents as their small means admitted to their 
Japanese friends, their vessel set sail on her return the 28th of Sep¬ 
tember. 

The Dutch, as we have seen, had been greatly assisted by Adams. 
The Spanish envoy, in his negotiations, relied chiefly, as Don Rod¬ 
rigo had done before him, on the advice and assistance of Father 
Louis Sotelo, a Franciscan friar of noble descent,* established at 
Miako, who entered with great zeal into the project of a regular 
trade between Japan and Mexico. But the old jealousy which the 
Japanese had long entertained of the Spaniards soon broke out 
afresh. Some soundings made along the coast by the vessel which 
brought out the Spanish ambassador were looked upon with great 
suspicion and jealousy, which Adams is said to have aggravated. 
Sotelo, despairing of success with the emperor, though at first he had 
seemed to favor his projects, subsequently proposed the same scheme 
to Mazamoney, who ruled over a part, or the whole, of the kingdom 
of Oxu, or Mouts, in the north of Japan, hitherto almost unknown, 
but to which a few missionaries had lately made their way. The 
prince of Oxu adopted Sotelo’s project with zeal, affecting also quite 
a leaning towards the new faith, and, at Sotelo’s suggestion, he sent 
an ambassador to the Pope and the king of Spain. 

After many disappointments, Sotelo with this ambassador set sail 
at length for New Spain, about the end of the year 1613, in a vessel 
belonging to Mazamoney; and, by way of the city of Mexico, pro¬ 
ceeded to Seville and Madrid, where they arrived in October, 1614. 


* The Franciscan martyrology says he was born at Seville of the blood 
royal. 






FATHER LOUIS SOTELO. 


159 


Thence they proceeded to Rome, and had an audience of the Pope, 
November 30, 1615, by whom Sotelo was nominated bishop for the 
north and east parts of Japan, and his legate for the whole of it.* 
Having reached New Spain on his return, he found in the port of 
Acapulco a Japanese vessel belonging to Mazamoney, — the same, 
probably, in which he had arrived, and which, having disposed of a 
cargo of Japanese goods, took on freight for Manilla a part of the 
suite of a new Spanish governor of the Philippines, intending to 
purchase at Manilla a cargo of Chinese silks. But the Council of 
the Indies, under the influence of the Jesuits, and on the plea that 
the nomination of all eastern bishops belonged to the king, opposed 
Sotelo’s consecration; and the merchants of Manilla, alarmed at 
the rivalry of New Spain for the Japanese trade, made such repre¬ 
sentations that, on his arrival there, his papers were seized, and he 
himself was sent back to the superiors of his order in New Mexico. 

But long before the occurrence of this event, — in fact, previous 
to the departure of Sotelo from Japan, — the Catholic faith there 
had received a blow from which it never recovered, and which 
brought it to speedy ruin. 

* An account in Italian of Sotelo’s embassy, Historia del Regno de Voxu 
del Graponi, ^c., e del Ambasciata, ^c., was published at Rome the same 
year, 1615. There is no Japanese letter of later date than 1601, in the col¬ 
lection of Hay, or, as perhaps it ought rather to be called, of Martin Nutius 
(at least so his name was written in Latin), citizen and bookseller of Ant¬ 
werp, at the sign of the two storks, “ a man zealous for the Catholic faitli,” 
so Hay says, and by whom the collection was projected. He applied to the 
rector of the Jesuit college at Antwerp, for an editor, and Hay was appointed. 
A few of the letters were translated by Hay ; the greater part had already 
appeared as separate pamphlets, translated by others. Hay’s vehement 
Scotch controversial spirit breaks out hotly in some of the dedicatory letters 
which he has introduced. Of the Japanese letters subsequent to 1601, there 
is no collection. They were published separately as they were received, 
translated into Italian, from which were made French and Spanish trans¬ 
lations. 




CHAPTER XXII. 

ORIGIN AND COMMENCEMENT OF ENGLISH INTERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. — 
CAPTAIN saris’ VOYAGE THITHER, AND TRAVELS AND OBSERVATIONS 

THERE. — NEW SPANISH EMBASSY FROM THE PHILIPPINES.-COMMERCIAL 

RIVALRY OF THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. — RICHARD COCKS, HEAD OF THE 
ENGLISH FACTORY.—A. D. 1611—1613. 


The pilot, Adams, having heard from Spex that certain English 
merchants had established themselves in the island of Java, he 
wrote to them, under date of October 22, 1611, giving an account 
of himself, and inclosing a letter to his wife, which he besought 
these unknown countrymen of his to convey to his friends at Lime- 
house or in Kent, so that his wife, “ in a manner a widow,” and his 
fatherless children, might hear of him, and he of them, before his 
death. “ You shall understand,” wrote Adams, “ that the Holland¬ 
ers have here an Indies of money, so that they need not to bring 
silver out of Holland to the East Indies, for in Japan there is much 
gold and silver to serve their turn in other places where need 
rcquireth.” He enumerated as vendible in Japan for ready money, 
raw silk, damask, black taffetas, black and red cloth of the best 
kinds, lead, &c. To a somewhat exaggerated, and otherwise not 
very correct account of the extent and the geography of the Japan- 
ese dominions, he added the following description of the inhabitants: 

The people of this island of Japan are good of nature, courteous 
' above measure, and valiant in war. Their justice is severely exe¬ 
cuted, and without partiality, upon transgressors. They are gov¬ 
erned in great civility. I think no land in the world better gov¬ 
erned by civil policy. The people are very superstitious in their 
religion, and are of diverse opinions. There are many Jesuits and 
Franciscan friars in this land, and they have converted many to be 
Christians, and have many churches in the island.” 


FIRST ENGLISH VOYAGE THITHER. 


161 


This letter, which was given in charge to the master’s mate of 
the Dutch vessel, must have reached the English East India Com¬ 
pany’s factory at Bantam, in Java, previous to the first of June, 
1612; for on that day an answer to it was despatched by the Grlobe, 
which had just arrived from England, and which, sailing from Ban¬ 
tam to Patania, met there the same master’s mate who had brought 
Adams’ letter, and who, being just about to return to Japan in a 
Dutch pinnace, promised to deliver the answer. 

Already, however, independently, of Adams’ letter, a project 
had been started in England for opening a trade with Japan, 
founded upon a knowledge of Adams’ being there, derived from 
the crew of the Dutch ship, the Bed Lion. The Globe, which 
left England January 5, 1611, carried letters to Adams to that 
efiect, and she was followed in April by the Clove, the Thomas 
and the Hector, under the command of Captain John Saris, an old 
adventurer in the East, and a former resident at Bantam, with 
letters from the king of England to the emperor of Japan. 

After touching, trading, negotiating and fighting, at Socotra, 
Mocha, and other ports of the Bed Sea, Saris arrived at Bantam 
in October, 1612. Soon after his arrival the letter of Adams was 
re-read in presence of the assembled merchants; and doubtless it 
encouraged Saris in his project of visiting Japan. Having taken in 
seven hundred sacks of pepper, in addition to the broadcloths,gun¬ 
powder, and other goods brought from England, Saris sailed on the 
14th of January, 1613, in the Clove, his crew consisting of seventy- 
four English, one Spaniard, one Japanese, to serve as an interpre¬ 
ter, he speaking also the Malay language, which Captain Saris 
understood, and five Swarts, probably Malays. 

Passing in sight of the south coast of Celebes, Saris touched at 
several of the ports in the group of the Moluccas, occupied at 
that time, some of them by Dutch and others by Spanish facto¬ 
ries,— the Spaniards from Manilla having come to the rescue of the 
Portuguese, whom the Dutch had driven out. Begarding all new 
comers (if of any other nation than their own) with scarcely less 
suspicion and hostility than they did each other, and both of them 
joining to oppress and plunder the unhappy natives, “ who were 
wrought upon,” so Saris says, “ to spoil one another in civil war,” 
the Dutch and Spaniards, secure in strong forts, sat by and looked 
14* 



162 


JAPAN. — A. B. 1611—1613. 


on, “ prepared to take the bone from him that would wrest it from 
his fellow.” The Dutch fort at Buchian had a garrison of thirty 
Dutch soldiers, and eleven Dutch women, “ able to withstand the 
fury of the Spaniard, or other nation whatsoever, being of a very 
lusty, large breed.” 

The Dutch commander would not allow the natives to trade with 
the English, even to the extent of a single katty of cloves, threat¬ 
ening with death those who did so, and claiming all the Spice 
Islands held by them as “ their country, conquered by the sword, 
they having, with much loss of blood and money, delivered the 
inhabitants from the tyranny of the Portuguese, and having made a 
perpetual contract with them for the purchase of all their spices at 
a fixed rate,” in the case of cloves at about eight cents the pound. 
This claim of exclusive right of trade Captain Saris declined to 
acknowledge; at the same time he professed his readiness to give 
the Dutch, “ as neighbors and brethren in Christ,” a preference in 
purchasing any part of his cargo of which they might happen to stand 
in need. 

The English and Dutch had been ready enough to join together 
in breaking up the Portuguese and Spanish monopoly, and in forc¬ 
ing a trade in the Indian seas; but it was already apparent that 
the Dutch East India Company, which in the amount of capital at 
its command very far surpassed the English Company, was bent on 
establishing a monopoly of its own, not less close than that for¬ 
merly maintained by the Portuguese. The Spaniards, on the other 
hand, professed friendship, and made some ofiers of trade; but Cap¬ 
tain Saris, suspecting treachery, did not choose to trust them. 

On the 14th of April, he left the Moluccas, and stood on his 
course for Japan. On the 10th of June, having been in sight of 
land for a day or two, his ships were boarded by four great fishing- 
boats, fitted with both sails and oars, from whose crews they learned 
that they were off the harbor of Nagasaki. In fact, one of these 
boats belonged to the Portuguese, and was manned by “ new Chris¬ 
tians,” who had mistaken the ships of Captain Saris for the 
annual Portuguese carac. Finding their mistake, no entreaty 
could prevail upon them to stay; but two of the other boats, for 
thirty dollars each in money, and rice for food, agreed to pilot 
the ship to Firando, by the pilot’s reckoning some thirty leagues to 




THE ENGLISH AT FIRANDO. 


163 


the north, and the boatmen coming on board began to assist in work¬ 
ing the vessel, showing themselves not less handy than the English 
sailors. 

No sooner had the ship anchored off Firando, than she was vis¬ 
ited by the king or hereditary governor of that island, by name 
Foyne-Sama, — the same who had shown so much favor to the 
Dutch, —upward of seventy years old, attended by his nephew or 
grandchild, a young man of two-and-twenty, who governed under 
him. They came with forty boats or galleys, with from ten to fif¬ 
teen oars a side; but on approaching the vessel, all fell back, except 
the two which carried the princes, who came on board unattended,' 
except by a single person each. They were bareheaded and bare¬ 
legged, wearing shoes, but no stockings; the fore-part of their heads 
shaven to the crown, and their hair behind, which was very long, 
gathered up into a knot. They were clad in shirts and breeches, 
over which was a silk gown girt to them, with two swords of the 
country at their side, one half a yard in length, the other half as 
long. Their manner of salutation was to put off their shoes, and 
then stooping, with their right hand in their left, and both against 
their knees, to approach with small sidling steps, slightly moving 
their hands at the same time, and crying Augh I Augh ! 

Captain Saris conducted them to his cabin, where he had a ban¬ 
quet spread, and a concert of music, with which they seemed much 
delighted. The old king received with much joy a letter from the 
king of England, but put off reading it till Auge ” (or, according 
to Adams’way of y^xiimg \i, Angiu*) should come — that word 
being the Japanese for pilot, and the name by which Adams was 
known, to whom, then at Jedo, letters were sent the same night, 
as also to the emperor. 

As soon as the king had gone on shore, all his principal people, 
attended by a multitude of soldiers, entered the ship, each man of 
consequence bringing a present of venison, wild boar, large and 
fat wild fowl, fruits, fish, &c.; but as the crowd proved troublesoine, 
king Foyne sent an officer on board to keep order and prevent mis¬ 
chief. The next day came some three-score great boats or galleys, 

♦ “lam called in the Japanese tongue Angiu Sama. By that name am I 
known all the coast — Letters of Adams, Jan. 12, 1614. 



164 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1611—1G13. 


very well manned, which towed the vessel into the harbor, of which 
the entrance was narrow and dangerous. Here they anchored in five 
fathoms, so close to the shore that they could talk with the people 
in the houses, saluting the town with nine pieces of ordnance — a 
compliment which the inhabitants were unable to return, having no 
cannon, only pieces for small shot. The ship was speedily surrounded 
with boats full of people, who seemed much to admire her head and 
stern, and the decks were so crowded with men, women and chil¬ 
dren, that it was impossible to move about. The captain took sev¬ 
eral of the better sort of women into his cabin, where a picture of 
Venus and Cupid “ did hang somewhat wantonly, set out in a large 
frame, which, mistaking it for the Virgin and her Son, some of those 
women kneeled to and worshipped with great devotion,” at the same 
time whispering in a low tone, that they might not be overheard by 
their companions, that they were Christianos; by which it was 
understood that they were converts of the Portuguese Jesuits. 

Soon after, king Foyne came again on board, and brought with 
him four women of his family. They were barelegged, except that 
a pair of half-buskins were bound by a silk ribbon about their insteps, 
and were clad in a number of silk gowns, one skirt over another, 
bound about their waists by a girdle, their hair very black and long, 
and tied in a comely knot on the crown of the head, no part of which 
was shaven, like the men’s. They had good faces, hands and feet, 
clear-skinned and white, but wanting color; which, however, they sup¬ 
plied by art. They were low in stature and very fat, courteous in 
behavior, of which they well understood the ceremonials according 
to the Japanese fashion. At first they seemed a little bashful; but 
the king “ willing them to be frolic,” and all other company being 
excluded except Captain Saris and the interpreter, they sang sev¬ 
eral songs, playing on an instrument much like a guitar, but with 
four strings only, which they fingered very nimbly with the left 
hand, holding in the other a piece of ivory, with which they touched 
the strings, playing and singing by book, the tunes being noted on 
lines and spaces, much the same as European music. 

Not long after, desirous to be “ frolic,” the king brought on board 
a company of female actors — such as were common in Japan, little 
better, it would seem, than slaves and courtesans, being under the 
control of a master, who carried them from place to place, selling 





JAPANESE DRAMA. 


165 


their favors, and “ exhibiting comedies of war, love and such like, 
with several shifts of apparel for the better grace of the matter 
acted.” 

It appeared, however, on a subsequent occasion, on which several 
of the English were present, that, besides these professional actors, 
the king and his principal courtiers were accustomed, on certain 
great festivals, at which the whole country was present, to present a 
play, of which the matter was the valiant deeds of their ancestors, 
from the beginning of their kingdom or commonwealth, intermixed, 
however, with much mirth, “to give the common people content.” 
On that occasion they had as musical instruments, to assist their 
voices, little tabors or stringed instruments, small in the middle and 
large at both ends, like an hour-glass; also fifes; but though they 
kept exact time, the whole performance was very harsh to English 
ears. 

While waiting for Adams, who presently arrived, after being sev¬ 
enteen days on his way, a house on shore for a factory was hired, 
furnished with mats, according to the custom of the country, for a 
rent of about ninety-five dollars for six months. Not long after, 
leaving Mr. Richard Cocks in charge of the factory and the trade. 
Captain Saris set out on a visit to the emperor, attended by Adams 
and seventeen persons of his own company, including several mer¬ 
cantile gentlemen, a tailor, a cook, the surgeon’s mate, the Jap¬ 
anese interpreter, the coxswain, and one sailor. He was liberally 
furnished by old king Foyne with a conductor for the journey, a 
large galley, of twenty-five oars a side, manned with sixty men, and 
also with a hundred taels in Japanese money (equal to one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars), to pay his expenses, which, however. 
Captain Saris directed Cocks to place to king Foyne’s credit as so 
much money lent. 

The galley being handsomely fitted up with waist-cloths and 
ensigns, they coasted along the western and northern shores of the 
great island of Ximo (or Kiusiu), off the north-west coast of which 
the small island of Firando lay. As they coasted along, they passed 
a number of handsome towns. Faccata, distant two days’ rowing 
from Firando, had a very strong castle of freestone, with a wide and 
deep ditch and drawbridge, kept in good repair, but without can¬ 
non or garrison. Here, finding the current too strong, they 




166 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1611—1613. 


stopped to dine. The town seemed as large as London within the 
walls, very well built, with straight streets. As they landed, they 
had experience, repeated almost wherever they went, of that antip¬ 
athy to foreigners, so characteristic a trait of the country; for 
the boys, children, and worser sort of idle people, would gather 
-about them, crying out Core, Core, Cocore, Ware, taunting them 
by these words as Coreans with false hearts, whooping, hollowing, 
and making such a noise, that the English could hardly hear each 
other speak, and even in some places throwing stones at them — all 
which went on without any interference on the part of the public 
officers. In general, however, the police was very strict, and punish¬ 
ments very prompt and bloody. Saris saw several executions in the 
streets, after which, every passer-by was allowed to try his sword on 
the dead bodies, which thus are chopped into small pieces, and 
left for the birds of prey to devour. All along the coast they 
noticed many families living in boats upon the water, as in Holland, 
the women being very expert fishers, not only with lines and nets, 
but by diving, which gave them, however, blood-shot eyes. 

Coasting through the Strait of Sinomosiqui and the channel 
which separates Nipon from the two more southern islands, on the 
twentieth day after leaving Firando they reached the entrance of 
a river, a short distance up which lay the town of Osaka, which, 
however, they could only reach in a small boat. This town, which 
seemed as large as Faccata, had many handsome timber bridges 
across a river as wide as the Thames at London. It had, also, a 
great and very strong castle of freestone, in which, as they were 
told, the son of the late emperor, left an infant at his father’s 
decease, was kept a close prisoner. Some nine miles from Osaka, 
on the other side of the river, lay the town of Sakai, not so large, 
but accessible to ships, and a place of great trade. 

Leaving their galley at Osaka, Captain Saris and his company 
passed in boats up a river or canal, one/ day’s journey, to Fusimi, 
where they found a garrison of three thousand soldiers, maintained 
by the emperor to keep in subjection Osaka, and the still larger 
neighboring city of Miako. The garrison being changed at that 
time, the old troops marching out, and new ones marching in, a 
good opportunity was afforded to see their array. They were 
armed with a species of fire-arms, pikes, swords and targets, bows 



SARIS JOURNEY TO COURT. 


16 T 


and arrows, and wagadashes, described as like a Welsh hook. They 
marched five abreast, with an ofi[icer to every ten files, without 
colors or musical instruments, in regiments of from a hundred and 
fifty to five hundred men, of which one followed the other at the 
distance of a league or two, and were met for two or three days 
on the road. Captain Saris was very favorably impressed with 
the discipline and martial bearing of these troops. The captain- 
general, whom they met in the rear, marched in very great state, 
hunting and hawking all the way, the hawks being managed exactly 
after the European fashion. The horses were of middle size, small¬ 
headed, and very full of mettle. . 

At Fusimi, Captain Saris and his company quitted their bark, and 
were furnished each man with a horse to travel over land to Suruga, 
where the emperor held his court. For Captain Saris a palanquin 
was also provided, with bearers to carry it, two at a time, six in 
number where the way was level, but increased to ten when it 
became hilly. A spare horse was led beside the palanquin for him 
to ride when he pleased, and, according to the custom of the coun¬ 
try with persons of importance, a slave was appointed to run before 
him, bearing a pike. 

Thus they travelled, at the rate of some forty-five miles a day, 
over a highway for the most part very level, but in some places cut 
through mountains; the distances being marked, in divisions of 
about three miles, by two little hillocks on each side of the way, 
planted at the top with a fair pine-tree, “ trimmed round in fashion 
of an arbor.” This road, which was full of travellers, led by a 
succession of farms, country-houses, villages, and great towns. It 
passed many fresh rivers by ferries, and near many fotoquis, or 
temples, situated in groves, “the most pleasantest places for delight 
in the whole country.” 

Every town and village was well furnished with taverns, where 
meals could be had at a moment’s warning. Here, too, lodgings 
were obtained, and horses and men for the palanquin were taken 
up by the director of the journey, like post-horses in England. The 
general food was observed to be rice. The people ate also fish, wild 
fowl of various kinds, fresh and salted, and various picked herbs and 
roots. They ploughed with horses and oxen, as in Europe, and 



1G8 


JAPAN. 


A. -D. lull—101.“]. 


raised good red wheat. Besides saki, made from rice, they drank 
with their food warm water.* 

The entrance of the travellers into Suruga, where the emperor 
held his court, and which they reached on the seventh day, was not 
very savory, as they were obliged to pass several crosses, with the 
dead and decaying bodies of the malefactors still nailed to them. 
This city they judged to be as large as London with all the suburbs.! 
The handicraftsmen dwelt in the outskirts of the town, so as not to 
disturb with their pounding and hammering the richer and more 
leisurely sort. 

After a day or two spent in preparations. Saris, accompanied by 
the merchants and others, went in his palanquin to the palace, bear¬ 
ing his presents, according to the custom of the country, on little 
tables, or rather salvers, of a sweet-smelling wood. Having entered 
the castle, he passed three drawbridges, each with its guard, and, 
ascending a handsome stone staircase, he was met by two grave, 
comely men, Kaskadono, the emperor’s secretary,! and Fungodono, 
^ the admiral, who led him into a matted antechamber. Here they 
all sat down on the mats, but the two officers soon rose again, and 
took him into the presence-chamber, to bestow due reverence 
on the emperor’s empty chair of state. It was about five feet high, 
the sides and back richly ornamented with cloth of gold, but with¬ 
out any canopy. The presents given in the name of the king, and 
others by Captain Saris in his own name (as the custom of the 
country required), were arranged about this room. 

After waiting a little while longer in the antechamber, it was 
announced that the emperor had come, when the officers motioned 
Saris into the room, but without entering themselves. Approach¬ 
ing the emperor, he presented, with English compliments (on his 

* Saris makes no mention of tea, not yet known to the Europeans, and 
which, perhaps, he confounded with this hot water. All subsequent travel¬ 
lers have noted this practice of the Japanese of drinking everything warm, 
even to watei*. Cold drinks might tend too much to check the digestion of 
their vegetable food ; at any rate, they are thought to be frequently the 
occasion of a violent colic, one of the endemic diseases of Japan. 

t London had at that time a population of two hundred and fifty thousand. 

i This appears, from various circumstances, to be the same person called 
Konsekondono in the narratives of Don Rodrigo and Jacob Spex. 


/ 



saris’ visit to jedo. 


169 


knee, it may be presumed), the king’s letter, which the emperor 
took and raised toward his forehead, telling the interpreter to bid 
them welcome after their wearisome journey, and that in a day or 
two his answer would be ready. He invited them in the mean time 
to visit his son, who resided at Jedo. 

The country between Suruga and Jedo, which were two days’ 
journey apart, was found to be well inhabited. They saw many 
temples on the way, one of which contained a gigantic image of 
Buddha, made of copper, hollow within, but of very substantial 
tliickness. It was, as they guessed, twenty-two feet high, in like¬ 
ness of a man kneeling on the ground, and seated on his heels, 
clothed in a gown, his arms of wonderful size, and the whole body 
in proportion. The echo of the shouts of some of the company, who 
went into the body of it, was very loud. Some of the English left 
their names written upon it, as they saw was customary. 

Jedo was found to be a city much larger than Suruga, and with 
much handsomer buildings, making a very glorious appearance as 
they approached, the ridge tiles and corner tiles, and the posts of 
the doors, being richly gilded and varnished. There were, however, 
no glass windows, but window-shutters instead, opening in leaves, 
and handsomely painted. 

From Jedo, where our travellers were received much as they 
had been at Suruga, they proceeded some forty miles, by boats, to 
Oringa, an excellent harbor on the sea-side, whence, in eight days, 
they coasted round a projecting point of land back to Suruga, where 
they received the emperor’s answer to the king’s letter, also an en¬ 
grossed and official copy of certain privileges of trade, a draught of 
which they had furnished to the emperor’s secretary, and which, 
having been condensed as much as possible, to suit the Japanese 
taste for brevity, and thus reduced from fourteen articles to eight, 
were expressed in the following terms; 

“1. Imprimis. We give free license to the subjects of the king of Great 
Britain, namely, Sir Thomas Smith, governor, and the company of the East 
India merchants and adventurers, forever, safely to come into any of the 
ports of our empire of Japan, with their ships and merchandises, without any 
hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter, accord¬ 
ing to their own manner, with all nations : to tarry here as long as they think 
good, and to depart at their pleasures 

15 



170 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1611—1613. 


“ 2. Item. We grant unto them freedom of custom for all such merchan¬ 
dises as either now they have brought or hereafter they shall bring into our 
kingdoms, or shall from hence transport to any foreign part ; and do author¬ 
ize those ships that hereafter shall arrive and come from England, to pro¬ 
ceed to present sale of their commodities, without further coming or sending 
up to our court. 

“ 3. Item. If any of their ships shall happen to be in danger of shipwreck, 
we will our subjects not only to assist them, but that such part of ship and 
goods as shall be saved be returned to their captain or cape-merchant,* or their 
assigns : and that they shall or may build one house or more for themselves, 
in any part of our empire where they shall think fittest, and at their depart¬ 
ure to make sale thereof at their pleasure. 

“4. Item. If any of the English, merchants or other, shall depart this 
life within our dominions, the goods of the deceased shall remain at the dis¬ 
pose of the cape-merchant: and all offences committed by them shall be 
punished by the said cape-merchant, according to his discretion ; our laws 
to take no hold of their persons or goods. 

“ 5. Item. We will that ye our subjects, trading with them for any of 
their commodities, pay them for the same according to agreement, without 
delay, or return of their wares again unto them. 

“ 6. Item. For such commodities as they have now brought, or shall here¬ 
after bring, fitting for our service and proper use, we will that no arrest be 
made thereof, but that the price be made with the cape-merchant, according 
as they may sell to others, and present payment upon the delivery of the goods. 

“ 7. Item. If, in discovery of other countries for trade, and return of their 
ships, they should need men or victuals, we will that ye our subjects furnish 
them for their money as their need shall require. 

“ 8. And that, without further passport, they shall and may set out upon 
the discovery of Yeadzo,t or any other part in and about our empire.” ^ 

* This word, though not to be found in any of our dictionaries, was in cur¬ 
rent use, at this time, in the signification of head merchant of a factory ship 
or trading post, — cape being, probably, a contraction of captain. 

t Jeso, otherwise called Matsmai, the island north of Nipon. There is in 
Purchas’ Pilgrimes, vol. i., p. 364, a short account of this island, obtained from 
a Japanese, who had been there twice. It was visited in 1620 by Jerome de 
Angelis, who sent home an account of its gold-washings, which reads very 
much like a California letter. It was also then as now the seat of extensive 
fisheries. The gold which it produced made the Dutch and English anxious 
to explore it. The Dutch made some voyages in that direction, and discov¬ 
ered some of the southern Kuriles ; but the geography of those seas re¬ 
mained very confused till the voyages of La Perouse. Matsmai was the 
* scene of Golownin’s captivity in 1812. [See ch. xliv.] One of the ports 
granted to the Americans (Hocodade) is on the southern coast of this island. 

t These Privileges are given by Purchas, Pilgrimes, vol. i., p. 375, with a 
fac-simile of the original Japanese. 



EMBASSY FKOM THE PHILIPPINES. 


171 


The letter from the emperor to the king of England did not 
differ very materially from that to the prince of Orange, already 
given. [See Appendix, Note I.] 

In the original draught of the Privileges, there had been an 
additional article, to the effect that, as the Chinese had refused to 
trade with the English, in case the English should capture any 
Chinese ships, they might be allowed the privilege of selling such 
prizes in the Japanese ports; but this article, upon consideration, 
the emperor refused to grant. 

While these documents were under consideration, a Spanish 
ambassador from the Philippines had arrived at Suruga with the 
request that such Portuguese and Spaniards as were in the em¬ 
peror’s territories without authority from the king of Spain might 
be delivered up to be transported to the Philippines — a request 
occasioned by the great want of men to defend the Spanish posts 
in the Moluccas against the Dutch, who were then preparing to 
make an absolute conquest of the whole of those islands. But to 
this demand the emperor replied that his country was a free coun¬ 
try, and nobody should be forced out of it; but if the ambassador 
could persuade any of his countrymen to go, they should not be 
prevented ; whereupon the ambassador departed, not a little dis¬ 
contented. 

The day after receiving the emperor’s letter and the Privileges, 
being the 9th of October, Captain Saris and his company set out by 
land for Miako, where the presents were to be delivered to him, over 
the same road by which they had travelled from Osaka to Suruga; 
but, owing to the heavy rains and the rising of the river, their 
progress was much delayed. 

Miako they found to be the greatest and most commercial city of 
Japan. Here, too, was the largestor temple, in the whole 
country, built of freestone, begun by the late emperor, and just 
finished by the present one, as long, they estimated, as the part of 
St. Paul’s, in London, westerly from the choir, being as high-arched, 
and borne upon pillars like that.* This temple was attended upon by 
a great many bonzes, or priests, who thus obtained their living, being 

* The old Gothic edifice, afterwards destroyed in the great fire of 1666, is 
the one here referred to. 



172 


JAPAN. — A. D. IGll—1613. 


supported by the produce of an altar, on which the worshippers 
offered rice and small pieces of money, and near which was a colossal 
copper image, like that already described, but much larger, reaching 
to the very arch of the temple, which itself stood on the top of a hill, 
having an avenue of approach on either side of fifty stone pillars, 
ten paces apart, on each of which was suspended a lantern, lighted 
every night.* 

Here, also, the Jesuits had a very stately college, in which many 
of them resided, both Portuguese and natives, and in which many 
children were trained up in the Christian religion according to the 
Romish church. In this city alone there were not less than five or 
six thousand professing Christians.! 

But already that persecution w^as commenced which ended in the 
banishment of the Jesuits from Japan, and, indeed, in the exclusion 
of all Europeans, with a slight exception in favor of the Dutch. 
Following up an edict of the previous year, against the Franciscans, 
the emperor had issued a proclamation, about a month before Captain 
Saris’ arrival at Suruga, that no church should stand, nor mass be 
sung, within ten leagues of his court, upon pain of death. 

Ilaving at length received the emperor’s presents for the king of 
England, being ten heohs, or “ large pictures to hang a chamber 
with,” they proceeded the same day to Fusimi, and the next to Osaka, 
where they reembarked in the galley which had been waiting for them, 
and returned to Firando, having spent just three mouths on the 
tour. 

Captain Saris found that, during his absence, seven of his crew 
had run away to Nagasaki, w^here they had complained to the Por¬ 
tuguese of having been used more like dogs than men. Others, 
seduced by drink and women, and sailor boarding-house keepers, — 
just the same in Japan as elsewdiere, — had committed great irregu¬ 
larities, quarreling with the natives and among themselves, even to 
wounding, and maiming, and death. What with these troubles, added 

* Tins is the same temple and idol seen and described by Don Rodrigo. 

t Captain Saris states that the New Testament had been translated into 
Japanese for their use ; but this is doubtless a mistake. A number of books 
of devotion were translated into Japanese, but w'C hear nowhere else of any 
New Testament, nor were such translations a part of the Jesuit missionary 
machinery. 




RIVALRY OF THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 


173 


to a “ tuffon '^—a violent storm, — which did a good deal of damage, 
(though the ship rode it out with five anchors down), and alarms of 
conflagration, founded on oracles of the bonzes, and numerous festi¬ 
vals and entertainments, at which Cocks had been called upon to 
assist, — one of which was a great feast, lasting three days and 
three nights, to which the Japanese invited their dead kindred, 
banqueting and making merry all night at their graves,* — but little 
progress had been made in trade. The cargo consisted largely of 
broadcloths, which the Dutch had been selling, before the English 
came, at seventeen dollars the yard. Captain Saris wished to 
arrange with them to keep up the price, but the head of their fac¬ 
tory immediately sent off to the principal places of sale large quan¬ 
tities, which he disposed of at very low prices, in order to spoil the , 
market. The natives, also, were the more backward to buy, because 
they saw that the English, though very forward to recommend their 
cloth, did not much wear it themselves, the officers being clothed in 
silks, and the men in fustians. So the goods were left in charge of 
the factory, which was appointed to consist of eight English, in¬ 
cluding Cocks and Adams (who was taken into the service of the 
East India Company on a salary of one hundred pounds a year), 
three Japanese interpreters, and two servants, with charge, against 
the coming of the next ships, to search all the neighboring coasts 
to see what trade might be had with any of them. 

This matter arranged, and having supplied the place of those of 
his crew who had died or deserted, by fifteen Japanese, and paid up 
a good many boarding-house and liquor-shop claims against his men, 

♦ Of another festival, on the 23d of October, Cocks gives the following 
account: “ The kings with all the rest of the nobility, accompanied with 

divers strangers, met together at a summer-house set up before the great 
pagoda, to see a horse-race. Every nobleman went on horseback to the place, 
accompanied with a rout of slaves, some with pikes, some with small shot, 
and others with bows and arrows. The pikemen were placed on one side of 
the street, and the shot and archers on the other, the middest of the street 
being left void to run the race : and right before the summer-house, where 
the king and nobles sat, was a round buckler of straw hanging against the 
wall, at which the archei’s on horseback, running a full career, discharged 
their arrows, both in the street and summer-house where the nobles sat.” 
This, from the date, would seem to be the festival of Tensio dai Sin. See p. 
272, Caron, Relation du Japan, gives a similar description. 

15* 



174 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1611—1613. 


to be deducted out of their wages, Captain Saris sailed on the 5 th 
of December for Bantam, where he arrived the 3d of January, 
1614. Having taken in a cargo of pepper, he sailed for home on 
the 13th of February, anchored off the Cape of Good Hope on the 
16th of May, and, on the 27th of September, arrived at Plymouth, 
having in the preceding six weeks experienced worse weather and 
encountered more danger than in the whole voyage beside.* 

* Captain Saris’ account of his voyage and travels in Japan (which agrees 
remarkably with the cotemporaneous observations of Don Epdrigo, and Avith 
the subsequent ones of Kampfer and others), may be found in Purchas, 
“ His Pil(/ri 7 nes,” Part i., Book iv., chap, i., sect. 4-8. Cocks’ not less curi¬ 
ous observations may be found in chap, iii., sect. 1-3, of the same book and 
part. There is also a readable summary of what was then knoAvn of Japan, 
in Purchas, His Pilgrimagey Book v., ch. xv. 

Rundall, in his '^Memorials of the Empire of Japan,'’ printed by the 
Hackluyt Society, 1850, has re-published Adams’ first letter, from tAvo MSS. 
in the archives of the East India Company ; but the variations from the 
text, as given by Purchas, are hardly as important as he represents. He 
gives also from the same records four other letters from Adams, not before 
printed. It seems from these letters, and from certain memoranda of Cock?, 
that there were three reasons why Adams did not return with Saris, not¬ 
withstanding the emperor’s free consent to his doing so. Besides his Avife 
and daughter in England, he had also a wife, son and daughter in Japan. 
Though he had the estate mentioned as given him by the emperor (called 
Phebe, about eight miles from Uragawa), on which were near a hundred 
households, his vassals, over Avhom he had power of life and death, yet he 
had little money, and did not like to go home with an empty purse. He had 
quarrelled Avith Saris, Avho had attempted to drive a hard bargain with him. 
The E. I. Company had advanced tAventy pounds to his wife in England. 
Saris wanted him to serve the company for that sum and such additional pay 
as they might see fit to give. But Adams, whom the Dutch, Spanish and 
Portuguese, Avere all anxious to engage in their service, insisted upon a stip¬ 
ulated hire. He asked tAvelve pounds a month, but consented to take a 
hundred pounds a year, to be paid at the end of two years. 





CHAPTER XXIII. 


ECCLESIASTICAL RETROSPECT. — NEW PERSECUTION.-EDICT OP BANISHMENT 

AGAINST THE MISSIONARIES. —CIVIL WAR BETWEEN FIDE JORI AND OGO- 

SHO-SAMA.- TRIUMPH OP OGOSHO-SAMA. -HIS DEATH. - PERSECUTION 

MORE VIOLENT THAN EVER.-MUTUAL RANCOR OP THE JESUITS AND THE 

FRI^ARS.—PROGRESS OP MARTYRDOM.-THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH.—A. D. 

1613—1620. 

Between the edict of Taiko-Sama against the Catholics, and those 
the issue of which by Ogosho-Sama is briefly alluded to in the pre¬ 
ceding chapter, sixteen years had elapsed, during the whole of 
which time the missionaries and the Catholic Japanese had been 
kept in a state of painful uncertainty. 

It is true that the new emperor had greatly relaxed from the 
hostility of his predecessor, and seemed at times decidedly favor¬ 
able. In many parts of Japan the Catholic worship was carried 
on as openly as ever. Many new laborers, both Jesuits and others, 
had come into the field, and conversions still continued to be made 
among persons of the highest rank. There was scarcely any part 
of the empire in which converts were not to be found, and the mis¬ 
sionaries occasionally penetrated into the most remote provinces. 
The general of the Jesuits had been encouraged to raise Japan to 
the dignity of a province, of which China and the neighboring 
regions had been made a part, and of which Father Valentine Car- 
vilho was made provincial. Japan had also a resident bishop, or 
at least coadjutor, in the person of Father Louis Serqueyra, him¬ 
self taken from the order of the Jesuits; and under the bishop, as 
we have seen, were a few secular clergy. By a brief of Pope 
Paul V., just published in Japan, that empire had been opened to 
the members of all the religious orders of the church, with liberty 
to proceed thither by way of Manilla as well as of Macao. 

Yet, during these sixteen years, the Catholics of the different 
subordinate kingdoms had been more or less exposed to persecution. 


176 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1613—1620. 


especially in the island of Ximo, where they were most numerous, 
and which, from being mainly ruled by converted princes, was now 
chiefly governed by apostates or infidels; nor could the favor of 
the emperor be at any time certainly relied upon. 

The new Dutch and English visitors were prompted no less by 
religious than by mercantile jealousies and hatreds to do all they 
could to diminish the credit of the Catholic missionaries; and it is 
by no means improbable that, as the Portuguese asserted, their sug¬ 
gestions had considerable weight in producing the new perse¬ 
cuting edicts of Ogosho-Sama. Indeed, they had only to confirm 
the truth of what the Portuguese and Spanish said of each other 
to excite in the minds of the Japanese rulers the gravest distrust 
as to the designs of the priests of both nations. 

The edicts already mentioned were followed by another, about 
the beginning of the year 1614, of which the substance was that all 
priests and missionaries of the Catholic faith should forthwith 
depart the empire, that all their houses and churches should be 
destroyed, and that all the Japanese converts should renounce the 
foreign faith. 

There were in Japan when this edict was issued about a hundred 
and thirty Jesuits, in possession of some fifty schools, colleges 
and convents, or houses of residence, also some thirty friars of the 
three orders of St. Augustin, St. Dominic and St. Francis, besides 
a few secular ecclesiastics, or parish priests. Most of them were 
shipped off at once. Some found means to return in disguise; 
but the new persecution speedily assumed a character far more 
alarming than any of the former ones. Severe measures were now 
taken against the native converts. Those who refused to renounce 
their faith were stripped of their property, those of the most illus¬ 
trious rank, among whom was Ucondono, being shipped off to Ma¬ 
nilla and Macao, and others sent into a frightful sort of Siberian 
banishment among the mountains of Northern Japan, now first 
described in the letters of some of the missionaries who found their 
way thither to console and strengthen these exiles. Many, also, 
were put to death, most of whom exhibited in the midst of tor¬ 
ments all the firmness of the national character. 

The violence of this persecution was interrupted for a moment 
by an attempt on the part of Fide Jori, now grown to man’s 



XOGUN-SAMA. 


177 


estate, to recover his father’s authority — a rebellion in which 
many of the converts joined in hopes of gaining something by the 
change. 

On the 10th of December, 1614, Cocks, the English resident 
at Firando, wrote to Saris that, since his departure, the emperor 
had banished all Jesuits, priests, friars and nuns, out of Japan, 
and had pulled down and burned all their churches and monasteries, 
shipping them away, some for'Macao and others for Manilla r that 
old king Foyne was dead, on which occasion three of his servants 
had cut themselves open to bear him company, according to a com¬ 
mon Japanese fashion of expressing attachment and gratitude; 
that a civil war had broken out between the emperor and his im¬ 
prisoned son-in-law; and that all Osaka, except the castle, where 
the rebels were entrenched and besieged, had been burned to the 
ground. Jedo had also suffered exceedingly by a terrible tuffon 
or hurricane, which the Christians ascribed to the judgment of 
God, and the pagan Japanese to the conjurations of the Jesuits. 
Sayer, another of the English Company, wrote, December 5, 
1615, that the emperor had got the victory, with the loss—doubt¬ 
less exaggerated — of four hundred thousand men on both sides. 

The death of Ogosho-Sama,* in 1616, left his son Xogun-Sama 
sole emperor. lie continued to reside at Jedo, which, thenceforth, 
became the capital. He diligently followed up the policy of his 
three predecessors, — that of weakening the particular kings and 
princes so as to reduce them to political insignificance; nor does it 
appear that, from that time to this, the empire, formerly so turbu¬ 
lent, has ever been disturbed by civil wars, or internal commo¬ 
tions. He also began that system of foreign policy since pushed to 
such extremes. The English, by a new version of their privileges,! 
were restricted to the single port of Firando, while the new emperor 

* lie was deified, and is still worshipped under the name of Gonsen-Sama, 
given to him after his death. It is from him that the reigning emperors of 
Japan trace their descent. He is buried at the temple of Niko, built in 
1630, three days’journey from Jedo, of the splendor of which marvellous 
stories are told. Caron, who wrote about the time it was built, speaks as if 
he had seen it. In 1782, M. Titsingh, then Dutch director, solicited per¬ 
mission to visit this temple, but was refused, as there was no precedent for 

such a favor. ^ 

t These modified privileges have been printed for the first time by RundalL 



178 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1G13—1620. 


positively refused to receive a present from the viceroy of New 
Spain, or to see the persons who brought it. 

At the commencement of the new reign, tliere were yet con¬ 
cealed within the empire thirty-three Jesuits, sixteen friars of the 
three orders, and seven secular priests, who still continued to min¬ 
ister to the faithful with the aid of a great number of native 
catechists. Seven Jesuits and all the friars but one.were in Naga¬ 
saki and its environs. Of the other Jesuits, several resided in the 
other imperial cities where they still found protectors, while the 
rest travelled from place to place as their services were needed. 
Those at Nagasaki were disguised as Portuguese merchants, who 
were still allowed full liberty to trade; while those in the provinces 
adopted the shaven crowns and long robes, the ordinary guise of 
the native bonzes. After a while some of them even ventured to 
resume the habits of their order, and to preach in public; but this 
only drew out from the emperor a new and more formal and pre¬ 
cise edict. It was accompanied with terrible menaces, such as 
frightened into apostasy many converts who had hitherto stood out, 
and even drove some of them, in order to secure favor for them¬ 
selves, to betray the missionaries, who knew no longer whom to 
trust. 

The missionaries sent home lamentable accounts of their own 
sufferings and those of their converts, and all Catholic Europe 
resounded with lamentations over this sudden destruction of what 
had long been considered one of the most flourishing and encourag¬ 
ing provinces of missionary labor, not unmingled, however, with 
exultations over the courage and firmness of the martyrs."* 

* Lopo de Vega, the poet, who held the office of procurator fiscal to the apos¬ 
tolic chamber of the archbishopric of Toledo, celebrated the constancy of the 
Japanese martyrs, in a pamphlet entitled, Triumpho de la Fe en los Regnos del 
Japon, pas los annos de 1614 and 1615, published in 1617. “ Take away from 
this work,” says Charlevoix, “ the Latin and Spanish verses, the quotations 
foreign to the subject, and the flourish of the style, and there will be nothing 
left of it.” The subject was much more satisfactorily treated by Nicholas Tri- 
gault, himself a very distinguished member of the Chinese mission, which he 
had joined in 1610. He returned to Europe in 1615, travelling on foot through 
Persia, Arabia and Egypt, to obtain a fresh supply of laborers. Besides an 
account of the Jesuit mission to China (from which, next to Marco Polo’s 
travels, Europe gathered its first distinct notions of that empire), and a sum- 



MAKTYRDOMS. 


179 


Such, indeed, was the zeal for martyrdom on the part of the Jap¬ 
anese, in which they were encouraged by the friars, and which the 
Jesuits strove in vain to keep within some reasonable limits, as to 
lead to many acts of imprudence, by which the individual was glori¬ 
fied, but the church damnified. Henceforth the missionary letters, 
which still found their way to Rome, though in diminishing numbers 
and with decreasing regularity, contain little but horrible accounts of 
tortures and martyrdoms, mingled, indeed, with abundant exultations 
over the firmness and even the jubilant spirit with which the victims 
met their fate, now by crucifixion, now by the axe, and now by fire. 
Infinite were the prayers, the austerities, the fasts, the penitential 
exercises, to which the converts resorted in hopes to appease the 
wrath of Heaven. Even infants at the breast were made to bear 
their share in them, being allowed to nurse but once a day, in the 
hope that God would be moved by the cries of these innocents to 
grant peace to his church. But, though many miraculous things 
• 

mai’y of tlie Japanese mission from 1609 to 1612, published during this visit 
to Europe, just before his departure in 1618 (taking with him forty-four mis¬ 
sionaries, who had volunteered to follow him to China), he completed four books 
concerning the triumphs of the Christians in the late persecution in Japan ; 
to which, while at Goa, on his way to China, he added a fifth book, bringing 
down the narrative to 1616. The whole, derived from the annual Japanese let¬ 
ters, was printed in 1623, in a small quarto of five hundred and twenty pages, 
illustrated by numerous engravings of martyrdoms, and containing also a short 
addition, bringing down the story to the yeai's 1617—1620, and a list of Jap¬ 
anese martyrs, to the number of two hundred and sixty-eight. Thei’e is also 
added a list of thirty-eight houses and residences (including two colleges, one 
at Arima, the other at Nagasaki), which the Jesuits had been obliged to 
abandon ; and of five Franciscan, four Dominican and two Augustinian con¬ 
vents, from which the inmates had been driven. These works of Trigault, 
published originally in Latin, were translated into French and Spanish. 
Various other accounts of the same persecution appeared in Spanish, Italian 
and Portuguese. A Brief Relation of the Persecution lately made against 
the Catholic Christians of Japan was published at London, 1616. Mean¬ 
while Purchas, in the successive editions of his Pilgrimage, gave an account 
of the Japanese missions, which is the best and almost the only one (though 
now obsolete and forgotten) in the English language. That contained in the 
fourth edition (annexed as a fifth part to the Pilgrimes), and published in 
1625, is the fullest. Captain Saris, according to Purchas, ascribed the per¬ 
secution to the discovery, by the Japanese, that the Jesuits, under the cloak 
of religion, were but merchants. 



180 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1613—1G21. 


are told of the martyrs, many of them, it is said, distinctly pro¬ 
nouncing the name of Jesus and Mary after their heads were cut 
off, the persecution continued to rage with unabated fury. 

While the persecution of the Catholics was thus fiercely pur¬ 
sued in Japan, the Dutch, not in those islands onl}", but throughout 
the eastern seas, were zealously pushing their mercantile enter¬ 
prises; and in Japan, as elsewhere, they got decidedly the 
advantage of the English, their companions and rivals, in these 
inroads upon the Portuguese and Spaniards. 

The English at Firando bought junks and attempted a trade with 
Siam, where they already had a factory, one of their first establish¬ 
ments in the East; and with Cochin China and Corea; but 
without much advantage. In 1616, two small vessels arrived 
from England, one of ^hich was employed in trading between 
Japan and Java. The operations of the Dutch were on a much 
larger scale. Not content with driving the Spaniards from the 
Moluccas, they threatened the Philippines, and sent to blockade 
hlanilla a fleet, which had several engagements with the Span¬ 
iards. Five great Dutch ships arrived at Firando in 1616, of 
which one of nine hundred tons sailed for Bantam, fully laden 
with raw silk and other rich China stuffs; and another, of eight 
hundred tons, for the Moluccas, with money and provisions. 
Several others remained on the coast to watch the Spanish and 
Portuguese traders, and to carry on a piratical war against the 
Chinese junks, of which they captured, in 1616, according to Cocks’ 
letters, not less than twenty or thirty, pretending to be English ves¬ 
sels, and thus greatly damaging the English name and the chance 
of a trade with China.* 

On a visit to Miako, in 1620, Cocks, as appears by his let¬ 
ters, saw fifty-five Japanese martyred, because they would not 
renounce the Christian faith; among them little children of five 
or six years pld, burned in their mothers’ arras, and crying to 
Jesus to receive their souls. Sixteen others had been put to death 
for the same cause at Nagasaki, five of whom were burned, and the 
rest beheaded, cut in pieces, and cast into the sea in sacks; but the 

* Such was the charge of the English. The Dutch narratives, however, 
abound with similar charges against the English. Both probably were true 
enough, as both nations captured all the Chinese junks they met. 




CATHOLIC QUARRELS. 


181 


priests had secretly fished up their bones and preserved them for 
relics. There were many more in prison, expecting hourly to die; 
for, as Cocks wrote, very few turned pagans. 

Nagasaki had been from its foundation a Catholic city. Hith¬ 
erto, notwithstanding former edicts for their destruction, one or 
two churches and monasteries had escaped; but, in 1621, all that 
were left, including the hospital of Misericordia, were destroyed. 
The very graves and sepulchres, so Cocks wrote, had been dug up; 
and, as if to root out all memory of Christianity, heathen temples 
were built on their sites. 

One of the Jesuits wrote home that there was not now any question 
as to the number of Jesuit residences in Japan, but only as to the 
number of prisons. Even those who had not yet fallen into the hands 
of the persecutors had only caves and holes in the rocks for their 
dwellings, in which they suffered more than in the darkest 
dungeons. 

It is not necessary to give implicit credit to all which the con¬ 
temporary letters and memoirs related, and which the Catholic his¬ 
torians and martyrologists have repeated, of the ferocity of the 
persecutors, the heroism of the sufferers, and especially of the mir¬ 
acles said to be wrought by their relics. Yet there can be no 
question, either of the fury of the persecution, or of the lofty spirit 
of martyrdom in which it was unavailingly met. Catholicism 
lingered on for a few years longer in Japan, yet it must be consid¬ 
ered as having already received its death-blow in that same year in 
which a few Puritan pilgrims landed at Plymouth, to plant the 
obscure seeds of a new and still growing Protestant empire. 

16 




CHAPTER XXIV. 


COLLISIONS OF THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH IN THE EASTERN SEAS.-THE ENG¬ 
LISH RETIRE FROM JAPAN. — THE SPANIARDS REPELLED.-PROGRESS OF THE 

PERSECUTION.-JAPANESE PORTS, EXCEPT FIRANDO AND NAGASAKI, CLOSED 

TO FOREIGNERS.-CHARGES IN EUROPE AGAINST THE JESUITS.-FATHERS 

SOTELO AND COLLADO.- TORMENT OF THE FOSSE.-APOSTASIES.- THE 

PORTUGUESE CONFINED TO DESIMA.- REBELLION OF XIMABARA.- THE 

PORTUGUESE EXCLUDED.-AMBASSADORS PUT TO DEATH.-A. D. 1621—1G40. 

Already the relations of the Dutch and English in the East 
had assumed the character of open hostility. A letter from 
Cocks, of March 10th, 1621,* complains that the Hollanders, hav¬ 
ing seven ships, great and small, in the harbor of Firando, had, with 
sound of trumpet, proclaimed open war against the English, both by 
sea and land, to take their ships and goods, and kill their persons 
as mortal enemies; that they had seized his boat, fired at his barks, 
and had beset the door of his factory — a hundred Dutchmen to 
one Englishman — and would have entered and cut all their throats 
but for the interference of the Japanese: all because Cocks had 
refused to give up six Englishmen, who had escaped from two 
English ships which the Dutch had captured, and whom they 
claimed to have back, representing them to the Japanese as their 
“ slaves.” 

To sustain the English interest in the eastern seas, the English 
East India Company, by great efforts, had fitted out, in 1617, the 
largest expedition yet sent from England to the East Indies. It 
consisted of the Royal James, of one thousand tons; the Royal 
Anne, of nine hundred; the Gift, of eight hundred; the Bull, of 
four hundred; and the Bee, of one hundred and fifty tons; and 


* The date, as given by Purohas (evidently by a misprint), is 1610. 


COLLISIONS OF THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 


183 


sailed from London under the command of Martin Pring, who, 
twelve years before, following up the discoveries of Gosnold, had 
entered and explored — the first Englishman to do so — Penobscot 
bay and river, on the coast of what had since begun to be known 
as New England. Pring sailed first for Surat, where the Company 
had a factory, and where he assisted the native prince against the 
Portuguese, with whom he vras at war. On the 17 th of June, 1618, 
he arrived at Bantam, whence he proceeded, in September, to Jaca- 
tra, a city of the natives, the site of the present Batavia. There he 
received news that the Dutch in the Moluccas, not content with driv¬ 
ing out the Spaniards, had attacked the English also, making pris¬ 
oners of the merchants, whom they had treated with great harsh¬ 
ness. News had also reached England of these Dutch outrages, and 
to make head against them, the Company, not long after Pring’s 
departure, despatched Sir Thomas Dale — also well known, to 
readers of American history, as high-marshal of the colony of Vir¬ 
ginia, one of its first legislators, and for three or four years its 
deputy governor — with a fleet of six large ships, with five of which 
he joined Pring in November, 1618, in the Bay of Bantam, assum¬ 
ing the command of the whole, including others which he found 
there. 

Both fleets were in a very leaky condition, and after some skir¬ 
mishing with the Dutch, and the capture of a richly-laden Dutch 
ship from Japan, the English sailed for the coast of Coromandel, to 
refit and to obtain provision, which could not be had on the coast 
of Java. Having arrived at Musilapatam, Dale died there August 
9th, 1619. Toward the end of the year, Pring, who succeeded 
in the command, returned again towards the Straits of Sunda, 
and on the 25th of January, 1620, met, off the coast of Sumatra, 
three English'ships of a new fleet, from which he learned that four 
others of the squadron to which they belonged had been surprised 
while at anchor off the coast of Java, and taken by the Dutch; 
that another had been wrecked in the Straits of Sunda; and that the 
Dutch were in pursuit of two others, with every prospect of taking 
them. 

As the Dutch at Jacatra were three times as strong as the 
three squadrons now united under Pring, and as three of his larg¬ 
est ships were very leaky, and the whole fleet short of provisions, it 



184 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1G21—1640. 


was resolved to send part of the vessels to a place at the north end 
of Sumatra, in hopes to. meet with the Company’s ships on their 
way with rice from Surat, while Pring himself, with his leaky 
vessels, should proceed to Japan — reported to be a good place 
for repairs as well as for obtaining provisions. Just at this 
time the happy news arrived, brought by two vessels despatched 
for that purpose from Europe, of an arrangement of the pending 
dispute, and of the union of the Dutch and English East India 
Companies into one body. 

Shortly after this welcome information, Pring sailed for Japan 
with two of his leaky vessels, having made an arrangement to be 
followed in a month by a united fleet of five English and five 
Dutch ships. These ships were intended partly, indeed, for trade, 
but their principal object appears to have been attacks upon 
Manilla and Macao. 

All these vessels, the Unicorn excepted, arrived safely at Firando. 
She was stranded on the coast of China, and her crew were the first 
Englishmen known to have landed there. A joint embassy was sent 
to the emperor with presents, which, notwithstanding the privileges 
of trade, were expected from every vessel that came. Having com¬ 
pleted his repairs, and leaving the other vessels behind him, Pring 
sailed on the 7th of December, 1620, in the Royal Janies, for 
Jacatra, carrying with him the news of the death of Adams, who, 
having remained in the service of the Company, had never again 
visited England.^ 

* From Jacatra Pring proceeded to England with a cargo 'of pepper. It 
would seem that he had not forgotten his early voyages to the coast of 
America, for while his ship lay in the road of Saldanha, near the Cape of 
Good Hope, a contribution of seventy pounds eight shillings and sixpence 
was raised among the ship’s company, to endow a school, to be called the 
East India School, in the colony of Virginia. Other contributions were 
made for this school, and the Virginia Company endowed it with a farm 
of a thousand acres, which they sent tenants to cultivate ; but this, like the 
Virginia University, and many other public-spirited and promising enter¬ 
prises, was ruined and annihilated by the fatal Indian massacre of 1622. 

The Royal James carried also to England a copy in Japanese, still pre¬ 
served in the archives of the East India Company, of Adams’ will. IVith 
commendable impartiality, he divided his property, which, by the inventory 
annexed, amounted to nineteen hundred and seventy-two tael, two mas, four 



ENGLISH ABANDON THE TRADE. 


185 


The arrangement with the Dutch was but of short duration. 
Fresh quarrels broke out. In 1623 occurred the famous massacre 
of Amboyna, followed by the expulsion of the English from the 
Spice Islands; and, about the same time, the Company aban- 

kandarins (two thousand four hundred and sixty-five dollars and twenty- 
nine cents), equally between his Japanese and his English family ; the Eng¬ 
lish share to go, one half to the wife and the other half to the daughter, it 
not being his mind — so Cocks wrote — “his wife should have all, in regard 
she might marry another husband, and carry all from his child.” By the 
same ship Cocks made a remittance to the English family, having delivered 
“ one hundred pounds sterling to diverse of the Royal James’ Company, 
entered into the purser’s books, to pay in England, two for one,” — a very 
handsome rate of exchange, which throws some light on the profits of East 
India trade in those days. Adams’ Japanese estate probably descended to 
his Japanese son ; and who knows but the family survives to tliis day ? The 
situation of this estate was but a very short distance from the spot where the 
recent American treaty was made ; nor is the distance great from Simoda, 
one of the ports granted by that treaty. The command of the fleet left 
behind, on Pring’s departure, devolved on Captain Robert Adams. Accord¬ 
ing to Cocks’ account, the crews, both Dutch and English, inferior officers 
as well as men, were a drunken, dissolute, quarrelsome set. Rundall gives 
a curious record of the trial by jury and execution of an Englishman of this 
fleet, for the murder of a Dutchman ; and it seems the Dutch reciprocated by 
hanging a Dutchman for killing an Englishman. Master Arthur Hatch 
was chaplain of this fleet. Purchas gives (vol. i., part ii., book x., ch. i.) 
a letter from him, written after his return, containing a brief sketch of his 
observations in Japan. Purchas also gives a letter from Cocks, which, in 
reference to the kofk of rice, agrees very well with Titsingh’s statement 
quoted on page fifty-four. Cocks represents the revenues of the Japanese 
princes as being estimated in mangoca (mankofk) of rice, each containing 
ten thousand goca (kofk), and each goca containing one hundred gantas 
(gantings), a ganta being a measure equal to three English ale pints. 

Cocks states the revenue of the king of Eirando at six mangoca. He main¬ 
tained four thousand soldiers, his quota for the emperor’s service being two 
thousand. The income of Koskodono, formerly three, had lately been raised 
to fifteen mangoca. That of the king of Satsuma was one hundred, and that 
of the prince next in rank to the emperor two hundred mangoca. The value 
of the mangoca was calculated at the English factory at nine thousand three 
hundred and seventy-five pounds, which would make the kofk, or goca, worth 
eighteen shillings and sixpence sterling, or four dollars and fifty cents, and 
agrees very well with Caron’s estimates of the kofk, which he calls cokieUy 
as worth ten Dutch florins, or four dollars. The estimates of Kampfer 
and Titsingh, given on page fifty-five, are higher. 

16 # 




186 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1621—1640. 


doned the trade to Japan, after having lost forty thousand pounds 
in the adventure. This massacre of Amboyna consisted in the exe¬ 
cution, by the Dutch, of ten or twelve factors of the English East 
India Company, on the charge of having conspired with some thirty 
Japanese residents to seize the Dutch fort. One of these Japanese 
having put some questions to a Dutch sentinel about the strength 
of the fort, he and others of his countr 3 rmen were arrested on suspi¬ 
cion, and by torture were compelled to accuse the English, who were 
then tortured in their turn into accusing each other. The residence 
of these Japanese at Amboyna is a proof, in addition to those 
already mentioned, of the adventurous spirit of the Japanese of that 
day, who had indeed a reputation for desperate daring, such as 
might give some color to the suspicions of the Dutch.* 

Meanwhile the persecution continued as violently as ever. In 
the year 1G22 fourteen Jesuits were burnt at the stake, including 
Spinola, a missionary of illustrious birth, who had been twenty 
years in Japan. Two friars were also burnt, who had been found 
on board a Japanese vessel from the Philippines, captured in 
1620, by one of the English ships, the Elizabeth, employed in the 
blockade of Macao, and by her commander carried to Firando. 
The master and crew of the Japanese vessel, and many other native 
converts, were executed at the same time. The Spaniards were sus¬ 
pected of smuggling in missionaries, and were wholly forbidden the 
islands. As a greater security against this danger, by an edict, 
issued in 1624, — shortly previous to which there had been a very 
severe inquisition in Jedo and its neighborhood for concealed priests, 
— all the ports of Japan were closed against foreigners, except 
Firando and Nagasaki, of which Firando remained open to the 
Dutch and English, Nagasaki to the Portuguese, and both to the 
Chinese. At the same time was introduced the custom of requiring 
an exact muster roll, and making a strict inspection of the crews of 
all foreign vessels. By the same edict all the subjects of the Cath¬ 
olic king, whether Portuguese or Spaniards, were banished the 
country, however long they might have been settled there, and even 
though they might have families by Japanese wives. 

What aggravated the misfortunes of the Japanese church, and 


See Appendix F. 



SEVERITY OF THE PERSECUTION. 


18T 


greatly diminished the dignity of its fall, was the still hot jealousy 
and mutual hatred of the Jesuits and of the friars, inflamed rather 
than quenched by all this common danger and suffering. The bishop 
of Japan having died (it was said of grief, at the peril of his flock) 
just as the persecution broke out, a most unseemly quarrel arose, 
which was carried on for several years with great virulence, as to the 
administration of the bishopric. It was claimed, on the one hand, by 
Father Corvailho, the provincial of the Jesuits, under an authority 
from the Pope ; and, on the other, by Father Pierre Baptiste, a Fran¬ 
ciscan, as vicar-general of the archbishop of Manilla, to whose juris¬ 
diction it was pretended the bishopric of Japan appertained. This 
quarrel about the administration of the bishopric was finally settled 
by the Pope in favor of the Jesuits. 

The Jesuit seminaries in Japan being broken up, they had organ¬ 
ized one at Macao for the education of Japanese ecclesiastics; but 
the severe penalties denounced against all priests coming into Japan, 
and against all, whether natives or foreigners, who should shelter 
them after their arrival, made the existence of the church, and the 
celebration of divine service, every day more precarious. From 
year to year it grew more and more difiicult for new missionaries to 
get landed, great as was the zeal for that service. Of those 
who did land, the greater part were immediately seized and put to 
death. Large rewards were offered to any person who would betray 
or take a missionary. Those already in the country lived in hourly 
danger of arrest, forced to conceal themselves in cellars, holes and 
caverns and the huts of lepers, exposing to tortures and death all 
who might bring them food, or in any way assist in concealing 
them. The greatness of their sufferings does not depend merely 
upon the testimony of their own letters. Roger Gysbert, a Dutch 
Protestant and a resident in Japan, between the years 1622 and 
1629, wrote an affecting narrative of it, and the general fact is 
strongly stated in Caron’s account of Japan written a few years 
later. 

Gysbert, in his narrative,* relates the martyrdom of more than 
five hundred persons; but there was a still larger amount of suf¬ 
fering which terminated not in martyrdom, but in recantation. The 

* It may be found in Thevenot’s Collection of Voyages, also in Voyages des 
hidest tom. v. 



188 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1621—1640. 


Japanese officers seldom exhibited any personal malice against the 
Catholics. Their sole object was the extinction of that faith. They 
made it a study to deny the crown of martyrdom so enthusiastically 
sought, and by a series of protracted and ingenious tortures to force 
a renunciation. For this purpose the prisoners were sprinkled with 
water from the boiling sulphur springs, not far from Nagasaki, and 
exposed to breathe their stifling odors. The modesty of the women 
was barbarously assailed, and numerous means of protracted torture 
were resorted to, such as in general proved sooner or later success¬ 
ful. Other means were employed still more efficacious. All natives 
engaged in foreign trade were required to give in an exact state¬ 
ment of their property, which, unless the proprietors would conform 
to the national faith, was declared forfeited. It was even forbidden 
that European merchants should lodge in the houses of any who 
were or had been Catholics. At Firando and Nagasaki all heads 
of families were obliged to swear, in the presence of an idol, that 
there were no Catholics in their houses, and, according to the Jap¬ 
anese usage, to sign this declaration with their blood. From 
Melichor Santvoort, an old Dutchman, one of the companions of 
Adams in the first Dutch voyage to Japan, and long a resident at 
Nagasaki, the authorities were indeed satisfied to take instead a 
declaration that he was a Hollander, — a circumstance which gave 
occasion to the scandal at which Kampfer is so indignant, that the 
Hollanders were accustomed to report themselves to the Japanese 
authorities as not Christians, but Dutchmen. All who refused to 
conform to the national worship were deprived of their employ¬ 
ments, and driven out to live as they could among the barren moun¬ 
tains. The seafaring people had been mostly Catholics, but no 
Catholic was henceforth to be permitted to sail on board any ship. 
So successful were these means, that although when Gysbert first 
visited Nagasaki, in 1626, it was said to contain forty thousand 
native Christians, when he left it, in 1629, there was not one who 
admitted himself to be such. 

In the midst of these martyrdoms, the Jesuits were called upon 
to suffer still severer torments, in new attacks upon their policy and 
conduct in Japan, published throughout Europe. Father Collado, 
a Dominican, for some time resident at Nagasaki, who returned to 
Europe in 1622, was known to have gone home charged with accu- 




FATHERS COLLADO AND SOTELO. 


189 


sations against the Jesuits; by way of answer to which a memo¬ 
rial was transmitted, prepared by the provincial Father Pacheco, 
who, four years after, himself suffered martyrdom at the stake. 
Nor was Collado their only assailant. Among those arrested in 
1022, was Father Sotelo, that same enterprising Franciscan, of 
whom already we have had occasion to make mention. Insisting 
upon his character of legate from the Pope, he had disobeyed the 
orders of his superiors, had sailed from New Spain to Manilla, and 
had contrived to get a passage thence to Nagasaki, in a Chinese 
vessel, under the character of a merchant. But the captain detected 
and betrayed him; he was immediately arrested and thrown into 
prison, and in 1624 was put to death. 

In 1628 there was published at Madrid what purported to be a 
letter from Sotelo to Pope Urban VIII., written in Latin, dated just 
before his martyrdom, and containing, under the form of a narrative 
of his own proceedings, a violent attack upon the Jesuits, and their 
conduct in Japan. Not liking to be thus attacked as it were by a 
martyr from his grave, they denied its authenticity. A memorial 
of Collado, printed in 1633, reiterated the same charges, to most 
of which it must be admitted that the replies made on behalf of the 
Jesuits are entirely satisfactory.* 

* A candid and conclusive answer to Sotelo, or the false Sotelo, as the 
Jesuits persisted in calling him, was published at Madrid immediately after 
the appearance of his letter by Don Jean Cevicos, a commissary of the holy 
office, who was able to speak from personal observation. Cevicos had been 
captain of the galleon St. Francis, the ship in which Don Rodrigo de Vivero 
had been wrecked on the coast of Japan, as related in a former chapter. 
After a six months’ stay in Japan, and an acquaintance there with Sotelo, 
Cevicos sailed for Manilla, was captured on the passage by the Dutch, but 
recaptured by a Spanish fleet. Arrived at Manilla, he renounced the seas, 
commenced the study of theology, was ordained priest, and became provisor 
of the archbishopric of the Philippines. The business of this office brought 
him to Spain, and being at Madrid when the letter ascribed to Sotelo ap¬ 
peared, he thought it his duty to reply to it. A full abstract of this answer, 
as well as of Sotelo’s charges, may be found at the end of Charlevoix’ His- 
toire du Japan. It appears, from documents quoted in it, that the mission¬ 
aries of the other orders agreed with the Jesuits, in ascribing the persecution 
mainly to the idea, which the Dutch made themselves very busy in insinuat¬ 
ing, that the independence of Japan was in danger from the Spaniards 
and the Pope, who were on the watch to gain, by means of the missionaries, 
the mastery of Japan, as they had of Portugal and so many other countries. 



190 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1G21— 1640. 


Finding that the means as yet employed had little effect upon 
the missionaries and their native assistants, a new and more effect¬ 
ual, because more protracted, torture was resorted to, known in 
the relations of the missionaries as the Torment of the Fosse. A 
hole was dug in the ground, over which a gallows was erected. 
From this gallows the sufferer, swathed in bandages, was suspended 
by his feet, being lowered for half his length, head downward, into 
the hole, which was then closed by two boards which fitted together 
around the victim so as to exclude the light and air. One hand 
was bound behind the back, the other was left loose, with which 
to make the j)rescribed signal of recantation and renunciation of 
the foreign creed; in which case, the sufferer was at once 
released. 

This was a most terrible trial indeed. The victim suffered under 
a continual sense of suffocation, the blood burst from the mouth, 
nose and ears, with a twitching of the nerves and muscles, attended 
by the most intolerable pains. Yet the sufferer, it was said, lived 
sometimes for nine or ten days. The year 1633, in which this 
punishment was first introduced, the second year of a new emperor, 
son of Xogun-Sama,* and himself known as Toxogun-Sama, 2 )roved 
more fatal than any previous one to the new religion. In the 
month of August of that year forty-two persons were burnt alive in 
various parts of Japan, eleven decapitated, and sixteen suspended 
in the fosse. The Dutchman Hagenaar, who was at Firando in 
1634, states, in his printed voyages, that during the time of his 
visit thirty-seven persons lost their lives at that place on the charge 
of being Catholics. Five of these perished by the torment of 
the fosse, others were beheaded, others cut to pieces, and others 
burnt. 

The charges made in the name of Sotelo against the Jesuits are of more 
interest from the fact that, at the time of the Jansenist quarrel, they were 
revived and reiirged with a bittei-ness of hatred little short of that which had 
prompted their original concoction. 

A Spanish history of the Franciscan mission, full of bitter hatred against 
the Jesuits, was published at Madrid in 1632, written down to 1620, by 
Father Fray Jacinto Orfanel, who was arrested that year, and burnt two 
years after, and continued by Collado, who was also the author of a Japanese 
grammar and dictionary mentioned in the Appendix, A. 

* Xogun-Sama seems to be only Sogun-Sania, a title, not a name. 



REBELLION OF SIMABARA. 


191 


What at last struck the deepest horror to the souls of tlie 
few surviving Jesuits, and was greatly improved in Europe to 
the damage of the Company by its enemies, was the apostasy of 
Father Christopher Ferre 3 ^ra, a Portuguese, an old missionary, the 
provincial of the order, and the administrator of the bishopric. He 
was taken in 1633 at Nagasaki, and being suspended in the fosse, 
after five hours he gave the fatal signal of renunciation. After 
having been kept some time in prison, and given what information 
he could for the detection of those of his late brethren still con¬ 
cealed in Japan, he was set at liberty; and, having assumed the 
Japanese dress and a Japanese name, he lived for several years at 
Nagasaki. He had been compelled to marry a Japanese woman, 
who was verj" rich, being the widow of a Chinese goldsmith, who 
had been executed for some offence; but the Jesuits comforted 
themselves with the idea that the marriage was never consummated; 
and they even got up a report that in his old age this renegade 
brother recovered his courage, and having, on his death-bed, con¬ 
fessed himself a Christian, was immediately hurried off to perish a 
martj^r by that very torment of the fosse, the terror of which had 
first made and had so long kept him an apostate. But for this fine 
story there seems to have been no foundation except the wishes and 
hopes of those who circulated it. 

As a further security against the surreptitious introduction, of 
missionaries, the policy was adopted, in 1635, of confining the Por¬ 
tuguese sailors and merchants to the little artificial island of Besima, 
in the harbor of Nagasaki, a spot but just large enough to hold the 
necessary residences and warehouses. Shortly after the issue of 
this edict, the people of the kingdom of Arima, all of them still 
Catholic except the king and the nobility, seeing no other hope, 
broke out into open revolt. They were headed by a descendant 
of their ancient kings, and mustering, it is said, to the number of 
thirty-seven thousand, took possession of the fortress ofXimabara, 
situated about due east from Nagasaki, on the gulf of the same 
name. Here they were besieged; and the place being taken in 
1637, those who held it were cut off to a man. 

The Portuguese were accused of having encouraged this revolt; 
in eonscc|uence of which an edict was issued, in 1638, not only 
banishing all the Portuguese, but forbidding also any Japanese 




192 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1G21—1640. 


to go out of the country. That edict as given by Kiimpfer, was 
as follows: 

“No Japanese ship or boat whatever, nor any native of Japan, shall pre¬ 
sume to go out of the country : whoso acts contrary to this shall die, and 
the ship with the crew and goods aboard shall be sequestered till further 
order. 

“ All Japanese who return from abroad shall be put to death. Whoever 
discovers a priest shall have a rewax'd of 400 to 500 shuets of silver, and for 
every Christian in proportion.* 

“ All pex'sons who propagate the doctrine of the Catholics, or bear this 
scandalous name, shall be imprisoned in the Onibra, or common jail of the 
town. 

“ The whole race of the Portuguese, with their mothers, nurses and what¬ 
ever belongs to them, shall be banished to Macao. 

“ Whoever presumes to bring a letter from abroad, or to return after he 
hath been banished, shall die with all his family ; also whoever presumes to 
intercede for him shall be put to death. No nobleman nor any soldier shall 
be suffered to purchase anything of a foreigner.” 

The Portuguese ships of 1639 were sent back with a copy of this 
edict, without being suffered to discharge their cargos. The corpora¬ 
tion of the city of Macao, greatly alarmed at the loss of a lucrative 
traffic, on which their prosperity mainly depended, sent deputies to 
solicit some modification of this edict. But the only reply made 
by the emperor was to cause these deputies themselves, with their 
attendants, to the number of sixty-one persons, to be seized and 
put to death, as violators of the very edict against which they 
had been sent to remonstrate. Thirteen only, of the lowest rank, 
were sent back to Macao, August, 1640, with this account of the 
fate of their company.! 

* A sliuet of silver weighs about five ounces, so that the reward offered 
was from if^‘2000 to !i^‘2500. 

t A narrative of this transaction was published at Kome, in 1643. A short 
but curious document, purporting to be a translation of a Japanese imperial 
edict, commanding the destruction of all Portuguese vessels attempting to 
approach the coasts of Japan, is given in Voyages au J\'ord, tom. iv. Ships 
of other nations were to be sent under a strong guard to Nagasaki. ' [See 
Appendix, Note I.] 



CHAPTER XXV. 


POLICY OF THE DUTCH. — AFFAIR OF NUTTS. — HAGANAAR’S VISITS TO JAPAN. 

-CARON’S account op japan. -INCOME OF THE EMPEROR AND THE 

NOBLES. — MILITARY FORCE. — SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POSITION OP THE 

NOBLES. -JUSTICE.-RELATION OF THE DUTCH TO THE PERSECUTION OF 

THE CATHOLICS. -THE DUTCH REMOVED FROM FIRANDO AND CONFINED IN 

DESIMA.-ATTEMPTS OF THE ENGLISH, PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH, AT IN¬ 
TERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. -FINAL EXTINCTION OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH. 

-A. D. 1620—1707. 

Throughout the whole of the long and cruel persecution of the 
Catholics, the Dutch had striven by extreme subserviency to re- 
comniend themselves to the favor of the Japanese, in hopes of 
exclusively engrossing a trade which appears at this time to have 
been more extensive and more lucrative than at any former period. 
The Japanese, however, seem not to have been insensible to the 
advantages of competition; and, so long as the Portuguese com¬ 
merce continued, they extended to the vessels of that nation a cer¬ 
tain protection against the Dutch, and even preference over them. 
The danger from Dutch cruisers appears to have caused the substi¬ 
tution, for the single great carac of Macao, of a number of smaller 
vessels; nor were the Dutch, however urgent their solicitations, 
allowed to leave Firando till such a number of days after the de¬ 
parture of the Portuguese from Nagasaki-as would prevent’all 
dano-er of collision. 

Yet, however cringing the general policy of the Dutch East India 
Company, their trade, through the folly of a single individual, was 
near being exposed to a violent interruption. In the year 1626, 
Conrad Kramer, the head of the Dutch factory, was extremely well 
received on his visit to Jedo, and was allowed to be present at 
Miako during the visit of the emperor to the Dairi — an occasion 
which drew together an immense concourse, and which, according 

17 


194 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1620—1707. 


to the account that Kramer has left of it, was attended with vast 
confusion.* The annual visit to Jedo was made the next year by 
Peter de Nuyts, who gave himself out as ambassador from the king 
of Holland, and at first was treated as such ; but the Japanese hav¬ 
ing discovered that he had no commission except from the council 
of Batavia, sent him away in disgrace. 

Shortly after Nuyts was appointed governor of Formosa. The 
Dutch, following in the footsteps of some Japanese adventurers, had 
formed an establishment on that island, about the year 1G20, with 
a view to a smuggling trade with China; and, by erecting a fort at 
the mouth of the harbor, had speedily obtained the exclusive con¬ 
trol of it. Not long after Nuyts’ appointment as governor, there 
arrived two Japanese vessels, on a voyage to China. They merely 
touched at Formosa for water, but Nuyts, to gratify the spite he 
had conceived against the Japanese nation, contrived to detain 
them so long that they missed the monsoon; and having required 
them, as the sole condition on which he would allow their entrance, 
to give up their sails and rudders, upon one pretence and another, 
he refused to return them, till at length the patience of the Jap¬ 
anese was entirely exhausted. They numbered five hundred men ; 
and at last, all their reiterated and urgent applications for leave to 
depart being refused, they attacked the governor by surprise, over¬ 
powered his household, and made him prisoner ; nor did the garri¬ 
son of the neighboring fort dare to fire upon them for fear of killing 
their own people. Thus the brave Japanese extorted liberty to 
depart and indemnity for their losses, to which the Dutch assented, 
notwithstanding their superior force, for fear of reprisals in Japan. 
These, however, they did not avoid, for, as soon as the Japanese 
reached home, the emperor put under sequestration nine vessels 
with their cargoes, then at Firando, belonging to the Dutch East 
India Company, and forbade any further trade with their agents. 
Things remained in this state for three years, the Japanese, how¬ 
ever, receiving as usual Dutch vessels which came from Batavia, 
under the assumed character of belonging not to the East India 
Company, bu,t to private merchants. At last it was resolved to 

* This curious piece may be found in French, in the Voyages des IndeSf 
tom. V. 



haganaar’s visits. 


195 


seek an accommodation by surrendering up Nuyts to the mercy of 
the Japanese, which was done in 1634. 

Having obtained his unconditional surrender, they treated him 
with great clemency; for, though detained in custody, he was not 
kept a close prisoner; and, in return for this concession, the Com¬ 
pany’s ships were released, and their trade reestablished. The 
liberation of Nuyts was granted two years afterwards as a mark of 
the emperor’s satisfaction, with a splendid chandelier among the 
annual presents of the Company, and which was used as an orna¬ 
ment for the temple-mausoleum of the emperors of the race of 
Gongen-Sama, completed about that time. 

In the solicitation for the release of Nuyts both Haganaar and 
Caron were employed, to each of whom we are indebted for some 
curious memoirs of the state of Japan in their time. Haganaar 
made three visits thither. The first included the last four months 
of 1634. The second extended from September, 1635, to Novem¬ 
ber, 1636 ; during which, he made a visit to Jedo, and was at the 
head of the factory. The third was limited to three months in the 
autumn of 1637. Of each of these visits he has given brief notes 
in his printed travels,* besides adding some observations of his own 
to Caron’s account of Japan. Firando, which he describes as a 
tov\'n of thirty-six streets, had grown up suddenly, in consequence 
of the Hutch trade — a single street producing more revenue to the 
lord than the whole town formerly had done; yet there were hard¬ 
ly any merchants in the place, except those who lodged at the fac¬ 
tory, and who were drawn thither from all parts by the Dutch 
trade. 

During Haganaar’s second visit, the Dutch were called sharply 
to account for having presumed to sell their silk at a higher rate 
than that asked by the Portuguese, and a price was prescribed, 
which they were not to exceed. Being deputed to visit Jedo, on 
the business of Nuyts’ release, Haganaar proceeded thither by sea, 
and took lodgings at the house of a Japanese bonze, who was the 
usual host of the Dutch. The agency of the lord of Firando and 
of his secretary was employed with several of the imperial counsel- 

* Haganaar’s travels may be found in Voyages des Indest tom. v., and a 
narrative of Nuyt’s affair in Voyages au JVardy tom iv. 





196 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1620—1707. 


lors, but owing, as it would seem, to a deficiency of presents, with¬ 
out success. Caron arranged this matter more successfully the next 
year. From Jedo to Osaka Haganaar travelled by land, and from 
Osaka by water to Firando, where, during his absence, thirteen or 
fourteen persons had sufiered death because they belonged to Cath¬ 
olic families. He notes that the Japanese whale fishery, for the 
season of 1636, resulted in the capture of two hundred and seventy- 
four whales; which, however, were much smaller and less fat than 
the Greenland whales, and were taken more for food than oil. 
Shortly after his return to Firando, news came of an order from 
court that all the Portuguese half-castes — that is, descendants of 
Portuguese by Japanese women — should be shipped oft’ with their 
wives and children to Macao. 

Returning to Japan a third time, in 1637 — in the seventh Hutch 
ship which arrived that year — Haganaar heard that Admiral Wod- 
dell was at Nagasaki with four richly-laden English ships. They 
had been refused entrance into Macao, and had come thence to 
Japan, but could not obtain permission to trade, nor even to land. 
Six Portuguese galliots had also arrived from Macao with full car¬ 
goes of rich silks, which were sold, however, at little profit. Yet 
they were reported to have carried back, in return, two thousand six 
hundred chests of silver, or more than three millions of dollars. 

To relieve the necessities of the Hutch governor of Formosa, who 
was engaged in hostilities with the natives, and had been obliged to 
borrow of Chinese traders, at the rate of three per cent, a month, 
Haganaar was despatched thither with four ships and four hundred 
and fifty chests of silver, of which two hundred had been borrowed 
at Miako of Japanese capitalists, at twentj^-four per cent, per 
annum. The following year he returned to Holland, where he soon 
after printed his voyages, and along with them the answers made 
by Francis Caron to a series of questions which had been submitted 
to him by the director of the Company, and which throw not a little 
light upon the condition of Japan at this time. 

Caron, born in Holland of French parents, had originally gone to 
Japan quite young, Kampfer says, as cook of a Hutch ship. Bad 
treatment caused him to quit the ship in Japan, where he was pres¬ 
ently taken into the service of the Hutch factory, and taught read¬ 
ing, writing and accounts. He gave evidence of remarkable abili- 



PRODUCE AND INCOME. 


197 


ties, and rose in time to the head of the establishment. He spoke 
the language fluently, had married a Japanese wife, and from the 
liberty of intercourse then allowed, and his long residence in the 
country, enjoyed means of information which no European has since 
possessed. 

In describing the political state of Japan, Caron gives the names, 
residences and revenues, of thirty-two princes, that is, rulers of one 
or more provinces (spoken of in the earlier relations as kings), of 
whom the prince of Kanga, who was also ruler of two other prov¬ 
inces, had a revenue of one hundred and nineteen mankokf, and the 
others revenues varying from seventy to eighteen mankokf. He 
adds the names, residences and incomes, of one hundred and seven 
other lords, twenty of whom had revenues of from fifteen to seven 
mankokf, and the others of from six to two mankokf. Another 
list contains the names of forty-one lords, with revenues of from one 
to two mankokf; and in a fourth list, he enumerates sixteen lords at¬ 
tached to the imperial court, of whom the first four had from fifteen 
to nine mankokf, and the others from six to one mankokf. The 
total revenues of these one hundred and ninety-six great nobles 
amounted to nineteen thousand three hundred and forty-five man¬ 
kokf, exclusive of nine thousand mankokf of imperial revenue, of 
which four thousand were employed in the maintenance of the 
court, and the remainder in the support of the imperial guard, all of 
whom were nobles, many of them children of the concubines of the 
emperors and great princes, and excluded on that account from the 
prospect of succession.* Thus the total annual revenues of the 
great landed proprietors of Japan amounted to twenty-eight million 
three hundred and forty-five thousand kokfs of rice, equal to about 
ninety million cwt., or one hundred and thirty-three million five 
hundred thousand bushels; nor is it probable that in this respect 
there has been much change ffom that time to this.t Caron gives 

* According to Titsingh, they amounted in his time (1780) to eighty thou¬ 
sand in number. Apparently they are the Dosiu, or imperial soldiers, of 
whom we shall have occasion hereafter to speak. 

t This quantity of rice would suffice for the support of twelve million per¬ 
sons or more. The cultivators of the imperial domains retained, according 
to Kampfer, six tenths of the produce, and those who cultivated the lands 
of inferior lords four tenths. Hence it may be conjectured that the estimate 
of twenty-five millions of people for Japan, is not excessive. 

17 * 



198 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1620—1707. 


as the current value of the kokf, or, as he calls it, cokien, ten 
guilders (or four dollars), which would make the mankokf equal to 
one hundred thousand florins (forty thousand dollars), or what the 
Dutch called a ton of gold. The prince of Satsuma, who was lord 
also of four other provinces, is put down in the above lists at sixty- 
four mankokf, the prince of Fisen at thirty-six, and the lord of 
Firando at six.* 

These revenues arose in part from mines of gold, silver, copper, 
iron, tin and lead, from timber, hemp, cotton and silk, and from 
fisheries ; but chiefly from the rice and other crops. There were no 
taxes or duties in Japan, except ground rents for lands and houses, 
payable in produce or money, and in personal services. All these 
nobles had residences at Jedo, in the precinct of the imperial palace, 
in which their children resided as hostages for their fidelity. For 
each thousand kokfs of revenue these lords furnished on demand 
twenty foot soldiers and two horsemen, and maintained them dur¬ 
ing the campaign, exclusive of the necessary servants and camp 
followers. The whole of their quotas, or of the feudal militia of 
Japan, thus amounted to three hundred and sixty-eight thousand 
foot, and thirty-eight thousand eight hundred horse, in addition to 
a standing army of one hundred thousand foot and twenty thousand 
horse, maintained by the emperor from his own revenues, as garri¬ 
sons and guards. The princes, however, prided themselves on keep¬ 
ing up many more troops than their regular quotas. To every five 
men there was an officer. Five of these sections composed a platoon, 
which had its commander. Two platoons made a company, which 
had its captain. Five of these companies, of fifty privates and thir¬ 
teen officers, composed a battalion of two hundred and fifty rank 
and file, with its special officer; and ten battalions a division of 
two thousand five hundred men. The civil division was much the 
same. Every five houses had an inspector, who kept a register of 
all births and deaths, and every street its magistrate and watch. 

Though the revenues of the nobles were great, their expenses 
were still more so. They were obliged to pass six months at the 
imperial court; those of the northern and eastern provinces during 

* These lists were doubtless copied from the Jedo Kagami (Mirror of 
Jedo), a kind of Blue Book, still published twice a year, and containing sim¬ 
ilar lists. See Annals des Empereurs du Japan (Titsingh and Klaproth^ 
page 37, note. 



PRINCES AND NOBLES. 


199 


one half the year, those of the southern and western provinces dur¬ 
ing the Other half. They travelled in great state, some of them 
with not less than four or five thousand men in their suite, and, on 
their arrival and departure, gave great entertainments. The prince 
of Firando, though one of the lesser class, was always attended in 
his journeys by at least three hundred men, and entertained in his 
two houses at Jedo more than a thousand persons. AVhat with 
their households, the clothing of their^ followers, their women, of 
whom they entertained a great number, their children, — the prince 
of Mito, the emperor’s uncle, had fifty-four boys, and daughters 
still more numerous, — presents and festivals, their expenses gener¬ 
ally exceeded their incomes; and, besides, they were often required 
to furnish workmen, at the demand of the emperor, for building new 
castles, temples, or anything he might undertake. The honor of a ’ 
visit from the emperor was very highly esteemed. He seldom paid 
more than one to the same house. No expense was spared, and 
years were spent in preparations, which often ruined those who 
enjoyed this honor. The visit made by the emperor to the Dairi 
at Miako, once in seven years, was a still more magnificent affair. 

The emperor maintained on the estate of each noble a secretary, 
in fact a spy, sent nominally to assist and advise him in the man¬ 
agement of his affairs. Those selected for this service were gener¬ 
ally persons educated at court, and of known fidelity, who, before 
their departure, signed with their blood a promise to keep the em¬ 
peror fully informed of the affairs and actions of the prince to whom 
they were sent. 

The marriages of the nobles were arranged by the emperor. The 
wife thus given was entitled to great respect. Her sons alone suc¬ 
ceeded to the lordship, which, in case she had none, was generally 
transferred to some other family. The children by the numerous 
concubines of the nobles had no share in the inheritance, and were 
often reduced to beggary. Besides concubines, free indulgence 
was allowed with the courtesans maintained by the lords of each dis¬ 
trict for public use. The lawful wives lived in splendid seclusion, 
attended by troops of female servants. Of women’s rights the 
Japanese nobles had no very high idea. Not only the strictest 
chastity was expected from them, but entire devotion to their hus¬ 
bands, and abstinence from any intermeddling with business or pol- 



200 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1620—1707. 


itics; the Japanese opinion being — in which Caron seems fully 
to coincide — that women are only made for the pleasure of the 
men and to bring up children. The children, though treated with 
great indulgence, were exceedingly respectful to their parents. 

The emperor had in every city and village officers for the admin¬ 
istration of justice; but every householder had the right to dispense 
punishments in his own family. Justice was very strict and severe, 
especially in cases of theft; and for crimes against the state the 
punishment extended to the whole family ot the offender. The 
nobles and military, in case they were convicted of crimes, enjoyed 
the privilege of cutting themselves open. Merchants and mechanics 
were held in mean esteem, — the former as cheats and tricksters, 
the latter as public servants. The cultivators were little better 
than slaves. 

The account which Caron gives of domestic manners corresponds 
sufficiently well with the more extended observations to be quoted 
hereafter from subsequent observers. He did not regard the J ap- 
anese as very devout. The persecution against the Catholics he 
describes as equal to anything in ecclesiastical history. He partic¬ 
ularly admired the steadiness and constancy of many young children 
of ten or twelve years. All the inhabitajits were required once a 
year to sign a declaration that they were good Japanese, and that 
the Catholic religion was false. The Catholics had amounted to 
four hundred thousand ; and their number was still considerable.* 

The Dutch had all along stimulated the Japanese against the 
Portuguese. All missionaries bound for Japan, found on board of 
Portuguese and Spanish prizes taken in the neighboring seas, had 
been delivered into the hands of the Japanese authorities. The 
Dutch had even assisted at the siege of Ximabara, for which they 
had furnished a train of artillery, conducted thither by Kockebecker, 
the head, at that time, of the Dutch factory. But they were far 

* There are two versions of Caron’s account of Japan, materially different 
from each other; one with the original questions, as furnished by Caron him¬ 
self to Thevenot, the other in the form of a continuous narrative, Avith large 
additions by Haganaar. The first may be found in Thevenot’s Voyages CurU 
euse, also in Voyages au A'ord, tom. iv. The other in Voyages des Indes, 
tom. V., and an English translation of it in Pinkerton’s collection, voi. vii. 




THE DUTCH SHUT UP IN DESIMA. 


201 


from realizing all the advantages which they had expected from the 
expulsion of their rivals. They, too, had excited suspicions by 
replacing their dilapidated wooden factory at Firando by a strong 
stone warehouse, which had something of the aspect of a fortress. 
In spite of their submissiveness in pulling down * this erection, their 
establishment at that place was suddenly closed, and in 1641 the 
Dutch factors were transferred to Nagasaki, where they were shut 
up in the same little artificial island of Desima, which had been 
constructed to be the prison-house of the Portuguese. And to this 
narrow island they have ever since been confined, with the excep¬ 
tion of some occasional visits to Nagasaki and its environs, and an 
annual journey, by the chief ofiicers of the factory, to pay their 
homage to the emperor at Jedo — a ceremony which seems to have 
been coeval with the first arrival of the Dutch. Hitherto the Por¬ 
tuguese and the Dutch also had freely intermarried with the Jap¬ 
anese ; but this intimacy now came wholly to an end, and even 
the Dutch were thenceforth regarded rather as prisoners than as 
friends. 

What contributed to increase this jealousy of the Dutch was the 
peace between Holland and the Portuguese, which followed the 
assumption of the crown of Portugal by the house of Braganza, and 
the separation of Portugal from Spain, in the year 1640. 

Evidence of this very soon appeared. In the year 1643, the 
Dutch sent two ships from Batavia, the Castricoom and the Bres- 
kenSy to explore the yet little-known northern coast of Japan, the 
island of Jeso and the adjacent continent, and especially to search 
out certain fabled islands of gold and silver, whence the Japanese 
were said to derive large supplies of those metals. These vessels, 
when ofiP Jedo, were separated in a storm, and the Breskens, in need 
of supplies touched at a fishing village in about forty degrees of north 
latitude. The lord of the village, and a principal person of the 
neighboring district, visited the ship with great show of friendship, 
and having enticed the captain, Shaep, and his chief ofiicers on 

* A curious contemporary narrative of this afhiir is given, among other 
tracts relating to Japan, in Voyages au JVbrd, tom. iv. It is not unlikely 
that the military operations of the Dutch in the neighboring island of For- 
mosa, and their strong fort of Zelandia recently erected there, might have 
aroused the suspicions of the Japanese. 



202 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1G20-1T07. 


shore, made them prisoners, bound them and sent them off to Nambu, 
near by. They were permitted to communicate with the ship, and 
to obtain their baggage, but at first were treated with much rigor 
on suspicion of being Spaniards or Portuguese. It being found, 
however, that they paid no respect to the sign of the cross or to 
pictures of the Virgin, it was concluded that they were Hollanders, 
and they were treated with less severity. At Nambu they were 
splendidly entertained, and in their twenty days’ journey thence to 
Jedo, in which they passed through a hundred well-built villages, 
they had nothing to complain of except the inconvenience of the 
crowds that flocked to see them. In every village they saw rewards 
posted up for the discovery of Christians. Not being willing to 
reveal the true object of their voyage, they stated themselves to 
have been driven to the north in an attempt to reach Nagasaki. 
It was plain, however, that their story about having come from 
Batavia, and being in the service of the East India Company, was 
not believed. It was suspected that they had come from Macao or 
Manilla for the purpose of landing missionaries, and they were sub¬ 
jected in consequence to numerous fatiguing cross-examinations, in 
which a bonze assisted, who spoke Spanish, Portuguese, English 
and Flemish, and whom they conjectured to be some apostate Euro¬ 
pean. What increased the suspicions of the Japanese was, that five 
Jesuits from Manilla had recently, in an attempt to reach Japan, 
been arrested at the Lew Chew Islands, and sent thence to Jedo. 
The Dutchmen were confronted with these Jesuits, to their great 
alarm. They also feared, if the true object of the voyage came 
out, being exposed to punishment not only for undertaking un¬ 
authorized explorations, but for falsehood in concealing and mis¬ 
representing their object; but when the Japanese had learned from 
Nagasaki that two Dutch ships had been sent on a voyage for the 
exploration of Tartary, of which the factors represented theirs as 
probably one, they excused their silence on that subject on the 
ground of not having been properly understood and interpreted. 
The factors at Nagasaki had been not less careful than themselves 
to say nothing about the search for mines. 

New interpreters were brought from Nagasaki, among them 
another apostate, whom there are grounds for supposing was the 
.*x-provincial Ferreyra, between whom and the Jesuit prisoners they 




VOYAGE OF THE BRESKEN3 AND CASTRICOOM. 203 


witnessed a bitter scene of mutual reproaches. A great many rig¬ 
orous cross-examinations followed. The Dutchmen were required 
to sign a paper by which all the Company’s property was pledged, 
for their reappearance before the imperial tribunals at any time 
that it might be discovered that they had landed missionaries. 
Their having discharged some pieces of artillery from the ship was 
insisted upon as a crime; also their ship having sailed off without 
waiting for them. The recent peace between Holland and Portugal 
was pointedly alluded to, and even the search for mines seems to 
have been suspected. The appearance of a ship on the east coast 
of Japan, which proved to be the Castricoom, some of whose people 
who landed were seized and sent to Jedo, gave rise to many new 
interrogations. Elserak, the director, at length arrived, and, after a 
separate examination, was confronted with them and signed the 
paper above described, when the Dutch were finally released, after 
an imprisonment of upwards of four months.* 

The Castricoom, more successful, discovered the Kurule Islands, 
Eetoorpoo and Ooroop, to which were given the names of State's 
Islands and Company’s Islands, and made some explorations of the 
east coast of Jeso, and of Sagaleen, taken to be a part of it. The 
information thus obtained, together with the two relations of Father 
de Angelis, written in 1616 and 1621, was all that was known of 
these regions till the explorations of Broughton and La Perouse, 
towards the close of the last century. Colownin’s adventures 
and experience there, as related in a subsequent chapter, bear 
a very remarkable and curious resemblance to those of Captain 
Schaep and his companions. Their release was acknowledged in a 
solemn embassy from the Company, — that of Frisius. About the 
same time, in 1647, a Portuguese embassy arrived in Japan, in hopes, 
since the separation from Spain, of reviving the ancient commercial 
intercourse; but, though the ambassador was treated with respect, 
his request was peremptorily declined. 

A new emperor, a minor, having succeeded in 1650, the Dutch 
Company sent Waganaar, in 1651, to congratulate him. Among 

* There is an account of the voyage of the Castricoom in Thevenot’s collec¬ 
tion. It is also contained in Voyages au A^ord, tom. iii. Charlevoix gives 
a full and interesting abstract of the adventures of Captain Schaep and his 
companions, derived from two different French versions of a Dutch original; 
but I know not where either the versions or the original can be found. 



204 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1620—1707. 


other presents he brought a Casuar, a strange bird of the ostrich 
kind, from Banda, but the officers at Nagasaki would not suffer it 
to be forwarded. During this visit there happened a terrible fire 
at Jedo, by which two thirds of that city were laid in ruins. Some 
violent disputes having arisen, and the Japanese having gone so tar 
as to take away the rudders of the Dutch ships, Waganaar went 
on a second embassy to Jedo, in 1659.* 

The establishment of the French East India Company by Colbert, 
led to some projects for a French trade with Japan, especially as 
Caron in some disgust had quitted the Dutch service, and enlisted 
into that of France. A letter from Louis XIV. to the emperor 
of Japan, dated in 1666, was prepared, and instructions for Caron, 
who was to be the bearer of it; but the project does not appear to 
have been prosecuted.! [See Appendix, Note I.] 

In 1673, the English East India Company made an attempt at 

* The journals of these embassies of Waganaar, Frisius and others, gener¬ 
ally pretty dry documents, with extracts from Caron, furnished the basis for 
the Memorable Embassies of the Dutch to the Emperors of Japan, a splen¬ 
did folio with more than a hundred copper plates, published at Amsterdam 
in 1669, purporting to be compiled by Arnold Montanus, of which an English 
translation, made by Ogilvy, with the same cuts, appeared the next year at 
London, under the title of Atlas Japonensis, and a French translation, with 
some additions and alterations, ten years later at Amsterdam. 

The materials are thrown together in the most careless and disorderly man¬ 
ner, and are eked out by drawing largely upon the letters of the Jesuit 
missionaries. The cuts, whence most of the current prints representing Jap¬ 
anese objects are derived, are destitute of any authenticity. Those repre¬ 
senting Japanese idols and temples evidently were based on the descriptions 
of Froez, whose accounts do not seem quite to agree in all respects with the 
observations of more recent travellers. 

The dedication of Ogilvy’s translation outdoes anything Japanese in the 
way of prostration, nor can the language of it hardly be called English. It is 
as follows ; “ To the supreme, most high and mighty prince, Charles II., by 
the grace of God, of Gi’eat Britain, France and Ireland, king, defender of 
the faith, &c. These strange and novel relations concerning the ancient and 
present state of the so populous and wealthy empire of Japan, being a book 
of wonders, dedicated with all humility, lies prostrate at the sacred feet of 
your most serene majesty, by the humblest of your servants, and most loyal 
subject, John Ogilvy.” 

t This letter, with the instructions and a memoir of Caron’s on the subject, 
may be found in Voyages an JVord, tom. iv. Caron, who spent several years 
in the French service in the East Indies, perished by shipwreck near Lisbon, 




EXTINCTION OP THE CATHOLIC FAITH. 


205 


the renewal of the trade with Japan, by despatching a ship thither. 
The Japanese, through the medium of the Dutch, kept themselves 
informed, as they still do, of the affairs of Europe; and the first 
question put to the new comers was, how long since the English 
king (Charles II.) had married a daughter of the king of Portugal. 
Though otherwise courteously enough received and entertained, the 
vessel was not allowed to sell her cargo. This refusal of intercourse 
the English ascribed to Dutch jealousy; but it probably was a step, 
as will be seen in the next chapter, to which the Japanese did not 
need any urging.*' 

Though the Catholics of Japan were effectually cut off from 
all intercourse with Europe, the Catholic faith still lingered for a 
good while in those parts of Ximo in which it had taken the deepest 
root. So late as 1690, there were, according to Kampfer, fifty per¬ 
sons, men, women and children (of whom three had been arrested in 
1683), imprisoned at Nagasaki for life, or until they should renounce 
the Catholic faith, and conform to the religious usages of the coun¬ 
try. These were peasants, who knew little more of the faith which 
they professed, except the name of the Saviour and the Virgin 
Mary, which indeed, according to the Dutch accounts, was all that 
the greater part of the Japanese converts had ever known. 

To land in Japan, to strengthen and comfort the faithful there, 
or at least to secure the crown of martyrdom in the attempt, long 
continued an attractive enterprise to the more romantic spirits 
among the religious orders of the Catholic church. Most of those 
who undertook this adventure were known to have been seized and 
executed soon after landing. The last effort of this sort appears to 
have been made in 1707. From that time, and notwithstanding 
the great revival, within fifty or sixty years past, of the missionary 
spirit, Japan has remained even less attempted by missionary than 
by mercantile enterprise. . 


on liis return to France in 1674. He was president of the Dutch factory at 
the time of its removal to Desima ; and Kampfer undertakes to represent his 
mismanagement as in some degree the cause of that removal. This story was 
doubtless current at Desima in Kampfer’s time, but probably it grew out of 
disgust of the Dutch at Caron’s having passed into the French service. 

* A curious narrative of this visit is printed in Pinkerton’s great collec¬ 
tion, VOl. VII. 




r / 


•. *:...- jr/fe j 

. v'S '; 

. A-ri .‘ 

) 1 

* < 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

PORTUGUESE TRAUE TO JAPAN. — DUTCH TRADE. — SILVER, GOLD AND J30P- 

PER, THE CHIEF ARTICLES OF EXPORT.-EXPORT OF SILVER PROHIBITED. 

-CHINESE TRADE. — ITS INCREASE AFTER THE ACCESSION OF THE MANT- 

CHEW DYNASTY.-CHINESE TEMPLES AT NAGASAKI.-A BUDDHIST DOCTOR 

FROM CHINA.-EDICT ON THE SUBJECT OF HOUSEHOLD WORSHIP.-RESTRIC¬ 
TIONS ON THE DUTCH TRADE.-INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CHINESE VISIT¬ 
ORS TO NAGASAKI.-THEIR OBJECTS.-RESTRICTIONS ON THE CHINESE 

TRADE. -THE CHINESE SHUT UP IN A FACTORY.-TRADE WITH LEW 

CHEW. — A. D. 1542—1690. 

Of the real value and extent of the trade which for some ninety 
years the Portuguese carried on with Japan, and which was brought 
to a final close in the year 1638, we have no means of forming any 
very exact estimate. When we read in writers of two or three 
centuries ago glowing accounts of immense commercial profits, we 
must also recollect that, compared with the commerce of the present 
day, the trade upon which these great profits were made was ex¬ 
ceedingly limited in amount. 

For more than half of the above period of ninety years the inter¬ 
course of the Portuguese with Japan seems to have been reduced, 
or nearly so, to a single annual ship, known as the great carac of 
Macao, sent annually from that city, and laden chiefiy with China 
silks, every Portuguese citizen of Macao having the right, if he 
chose to exercise it, of putting on board a certain number of pack¬ 
ages, as did also the Society of Jesus, which had a college and a 
commercial agency in that city. Of this traffic the following ac¬ 
count is given by Ralph Fitch, an intelligent Englishman, who was 
in Malacca in the year 1588:* “ When the Portuguese go from 
Macao in China to Japan, they carry much white silk, gold, musk 
and porcelains, and they bring from thence nothing but silver. 


* For a further account of Fitch and his travels, see Appendix, note E. 


FOREIGN TRADE. 


207 


They have a great carac, which goeth thither every year, and she 
bringeth from thence every year about six hundred thousand crusa- 
dos [not far from as many dollars]; and all this silver of Japan, 
and two hundred thousand crusados more in silver, which they 
bring yearly out of India, they employ to their great advantage in 
China; and they bring from thence gold, musk, silk, porcelains, 
and many other things very costly and gilded.” * 

If we allow to the Portuguese an annual average export of half a 
million of dollars, that will make in ninety years forty-five millions 
of dollars of silver carried away by the Portuguese; for, according 
to all accounts, they brought away nothing else. 

* The China trade was shared at this time between the Portuguese of 
Macao and the Spaniards of the Philippines. On the Spanish trade, and the 
profits of it, some light is thrown by extracts from letters found on board 
Spanish prizes taken by the English, which Hackluyt translated and pub¬ 
lished in his fourth volume. Thus Hieronymo de Nabores writes from Pana¬ 
ma (Aug. 24th, 1590), where he was.waiting for the ship for the Philip¬ 
pines,— “My meaning is to carry my commodities thither, for it is 
constantly reported that for every one hundred ducats a man shall get six 
hundred ducats clearly.” This, however, was only the talk at Panama; 
but Sebastian Biscanio had made the voyage, and he writes to his father from 
Acapulco (June 20th, 1590) : “In this harbor here are four great ships of 
Mexico, of six hundred or eight hundred tons apiece, which only serve to 
carry our commodities to China, and so to return back again. The order is 
thus. From hence to China is about two thousand leagues, further than 
from hence to Spain ; and from hence the two first ships depart together to 
China, and are thirteen or fourteen months returning back again. And when 
these ships are returned, then the other twain, two months after, depart 
from hence. They go now from hence very strong with soldiers. I can cer¬ 
tify you of one thing : that two hundred ducats in Spanish commodities, and 
some Flemish wools which I carried with me thither, I made worth fourteen 
hundred ducats there in that country. So I make account that with those silks 
and other commodities which I brought with me from thence to Mexico, I 
got twenty-five hundred ducats by the voyage ; and had gotten more, if one 
pack of fine silks had not been spoiled with salt water. So, as I said, there 
is great gain to be gotten, if that a man return in safety. But the year 1588, 
I had great mischance coming in a ship from China to New Spain ; which, 
being laden with rich commodities, was taken by an Englishman [this was 
Cavendish, then on his voyage round the world], which robbed us and after¬ 
wards burnt our ship, wherein I lost a great deal of treasure and commodi¬ 
ties.” 




208 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1542-1C90. 


Thou<^li tVie Spaniards were never allowed to trade to Japan, at 
one period, as we have seen, a considerable number of Japanese 
iunks frequented Manilla for the purchase of Chinese goods, but 
this trade was brought to an end in 1624, in consequence of the 

facilities which it afforded for the introduction of Catholic priests 

“ TheXtch trade began in 1609. We have seen that in a short 
time it gained a very considerable extent; and it increased, as 
the trading establishments which the Dutch gradually obtained 
in India and Persia, and that on the island of Formosa, whence 
they had access to China, furnishing them with a sup^y of rich 
silkl the great article of import into Japan. As the Portuguese 
trade was carried on from Macao, so the Dutch trade was carried 
on, not from Holland, but from Batavia. The year preceding the 
shutting up of the Dutch in Desima is stated to have been the most 
profitable of any. The previous average sales m Japan had been 

about sixty tons of gold; but that year the Dutch had imported 
and disposed of goods to the value of eighty tons of gold (that is, 
three million two hundred thousand dollars, a Dutch ton of go 
bein- one hundred thousand florins, or forty thousand dollars). 
Amom- the exports were fourteen hundred chests of silver, each 
chest containing one thousand taels, or near two million dollars in 
silver alone.* About this time, however, owing to the comparative 

* The tael, reckomng the picul at one hundred and thirty-three and one 
third lbs. Avoirdupois, contains five hundred and eighty-three grains Tioy. 
Our dollar weighs four hundred and twelve and a half grains; and supposing 
the Japanese silver to he of equal fineness, the tael is worth just about one dol¬ 
lar and forty cents. Kampfer reckons it as equivalent to three and a half 
florins, which is precisely one dollar and forty cents, taking the flonn at the 
usual valuation of forty cents. This, however, was rather above the valua¬ 
tion of the Dutch East India Company. There were, it seems, two kinds of 
Japanese silver, known among the Dutch as heavy and light money, the lat¬ 
ter sometimes distinguished as bar-silver. Both kinds were carried to 
account without distinction down to the year 1686, at the rate of 
and a half stivers, or one dollar and twenty-five cents per tael. After that 

period the bar-silver was reckoned at fifty-seven stivers, or one dollar and 

fourteen cents per tael. Beckoning the tael, as the Dutch commonly did, at 
one dollar and twenty-five cents of our money, and the mas is precisely 
equivalent to the Spanish eighth of a dollar. This statement is derived from 





EXPORT OF GOLD AND SILVER. 


209 


exhaustion of the silver, or the comparative increase of gold, that 
metal became a leading, as, indeed, it seems to have been before a 
considerable article of export with the Dutch. The gold kobang, the 
national coin of the J apanese, weighed at this time forty-seven kan- 
derins, that is, two hundred and seventy-four grains Troy, which is 
sixteen grains more than our present eagle. But, if superior in 
weight, the kobang was inferior in fineness, containing of pure gold 
only two hundred and twenty-four grains, whereas the eagle contains 
two hundred and thirty-two grains. It passed in Japan and was 
purchased by the Dutch for six taels or less in silver, which enabled 
them to dispose of it to good advantage on the coast of Coromandel, 
where the relative value of gold was much higher. In the two years, 
1670,1671, more than one hundred thousand kobangs were exported, 
at a profit of a million florins ; and down to that time the Dutch 
sent annually to Japan five or six ships a year. In 1644, the. 
export of copper began, and went on gradually increasing. In 1671, 
an edict was issued, prohibiting the further export of silver; but 

a Dutch memoir by Imhoff, quoted by Raffles {History of Java, Appendix 
B), and found by him, it would seem, among the Dutch records at 
Batavia. Of the chests of silver and gold, particularly the former, so often 
mentioned in the old accounts of the Dutch and Portuguese trade, I have 
met with no description, except in Montanus’s Meinorable Embassies. 
Unreliable and worthless as that huge volume generally is, its compilers 
certainly had access to valuable Dutch papers, and it is apparently from 
that source that they have drawn what they say of the moneys, weights 
and measures, of Japan. Of the chests of silver and gold they speak as fol¬ 
lows : “ Moreover, their paying of money is very strange ; for the Japanese, 
having great store of gold and silver, observe a custom to receive their money 
without telling or seeing it The mint-master puts the gold in papers, which 
contain the value of two hundred pounds sterling ; these, sealed up, pass from 
one to another without being questioned. They also use little wooden boxes, in 
which they put twenty sealed papers of gold, which is as much as a man 
can handsomely carry ; every box amounts to four thousand pounds sterling; 
and the like boxes, but of another fashion, they use for their silver, in every 
one of which is twelve hundred crowns, and is sealed with the coiner’s seal. 
But doth it not seem strange that never any deceipt is found in that blind 
way of paying money? ” “ The silver, though weighed and coined, is of no 

certain value. The coiners put it together into little packs worth sixty 
crowns ” — I suppose taels. Caron says, however, that these packages con¬ 
tained fifty taels. 


18 * 




210 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1690. 


this gave no concern to the Dutch, who had already ceased to 
export it. Its principal operation was against the Chinese, who at 
this time carried on a great trade to Japan. 

Of the early commercial relations of China and Japan our 
knowledge is very limited. As the Japanese, at an early era, 
according to their own annals (constructed, it is probable, by Buddh¬ 
ist priests), as early as a. d. 600, had received from China Buddh¬ 
ist missionaries, and through them the language, graphic char¬ 
acters, science, &c., of the Chinese, it would seem probable that 
some commercial intercourse must have early existed between these 
two nations. If so, however, the threatened Mongol invasion, tow¬ 
ards the end of the thirteenth century, would have been likely to 
have interrupted it. The native Chinese dynasty, which succeeded 
after the expulsion of the Mongols, was exceedingly jealous of all 
strangers and hostile to intercourse with them, ^o foreign trade 
was allowed, and every Chinese who left his country incurred 
a sentence of perpetual banishment. It is true that the Chinese 
colonists, that had emigrated, perhaps on the invasion of the Mon¬ 
gols, and had settled in the neighboring maritime countries (as 
others did afterwards on the invasion of the present Mantchew 
dynasty), still contrived to keep up some intercourse with China, 
while they carried on a vigorous trade with the adjacent islands 
and countries; but, at the time of the Portuguese discovery, no 
such trade would seem to have existed with Japan. 

The Mantchew dynasty (the same now reigning) which mounted 
the throne in 1644, was much less hostile to foreigners; and under 
their rule the Chinese trade to Japan appears to have rapidly 
increased. This was partly by vessels direct from China, and 
partly by the commercial enterprise of the Chinese fugitives who 
possessed themselves of Formosa, from which, in 1662, they drove 
out the Dutch, or who had settled elsewhere on the islands and 
coasts of south-eastern Asia. 

“ They came over,” says Kiimpfer, “ when and with what num¬ 
bers of people, junks and goods, they pleased. So extensive and 
advantageous a liberty could not but be very pleasing to them, and 
put them upon thoughts of a surer establishment, in order to which, 
and for the free exercise of their religion, they built three temples 
at Nagasaki, according to the three chief languages spoken by 



A BUDDHIST MISSIONAKY. 


211 


them (those of the northern, middle and southern provinces), each 
to be attended by priests of their own nation, to be sent over from 
China.” * 

These temples, called, each in the special dialect of its frequent¬ 
ers, “Temples of Riches” — the god which the Chinese chiefly 
worship — are described by Kampfer, from his own observation, as 
remarkable for their handsome structure, and the number of monks 
or Buddhist clergy attached to them. As soon as any Chinese ships 
arrived in the harbor, the crews immediately took on shore the 
idols, which formed a part of-ihe ship’s outfit, and placed them in 
some small chapels, built for that purpose, near by the large tem¬ 
ples, or convents as in fact they rather were. This was done with 
uncommon respect and particular ceremenies, playing upon cym¬ 
bals and beating of drums, which same ceremonies were repeated, 
when, upon the departure of the junks, the idols were carried on 
board again. 

Encouraged by this favorable reception of his countrymen. Ingen, 
who was at that time at the head of the Buddhist priesthood of 
China, claiming to be the twenty-eighth in succession from the foun¬ 
der of the Chinese Buddhist patriarchate, surrendered to a successor 
his high dignity at home, and, in the year 1653, came over to 
Japan, there to establish a sort of caliphate or archiepiscopal see, 
as Kampfer expresses it, of the particular branch or sect of the 
Buddhist faith to which he belonged. “ The princes and lords of 
several provinces came to compliment him, clad in their kamisimo^\ 
or garments of ceremony. The emperor offered him for his resi¬ 
dence a mountain in the neighborhood of the holy city of Miako, 
which he called Ohdku, the name of his former papal residence in 
China. An incident which happened soon after his arrival contrib¬ 
uted very much to forward his designs, and raised an uncommon 

* These temples, built in Japan by the Chinese merchants, remind one of 
the temples built in Egypt by the Greek merchants, who first opened a trade 
with that country. See Grote’s History of Greece^ chap. xx. 

t The kamisimo is a state dress, composed of two garments {kayni signi¬ 
fies what is above, and simo what is below), a short cloak, without sleeves, 
called katageno, and breeches, called vakama. Both are of a particular 
form (the breeches being like a petticoat sewed up between the legs), and of 
colored stuffs. They are used only on days of ceremony and at funerals. 
Tiisingh. 



212 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1542—1690. 


respect for his person, and a great opinion of his holiness. After a 
very great drought, the country people, his neighbors, desired him 
to say a kitoo, or extraordinary solemn prayer, in order to obtain 
rain. He answered that it was not in his power to make rain, and 
that he could not assure them that his kitoo would obtain it. 
However, at their pressing instances, he promised to do his utmost. 
Accordingly, he went up to the top of the mountain and made his 
kitoo. The next day there fell such profuse showers as even to 
wash away the smaller bridges in the city of Miako, which made 
both the city and country believe that his kitoo had been rather too 
strong. His companions, who came over with him from China, had 
likewise very great respect paid them, as more immediate partakers 
of his glory; so that even a cook, who came over with this 
learned and sanctified company, was raised to the dignity of supe¬ 
rior of one of the three convents of Nagasaki, where, by his sub¬ 
lime understanding and reputed great knowledge, he obtained,” and 
in Kiimpfer’s time still held, “ the name and repute of a Godo, that 
is, a person blessed with divine and most acute understanding, 
whom they suppose to be able to find out by his Satoriy or Enthu¬ 
siastic Speculations, such mysterious truths as are far beyond the 
reach of common knowledge.” 

What tended to favor Ingen’s design was an edict lately issued by 
the emperor, aimed at the few remaining Catholics, and also at the 
sect of the Siuto or Moralists, requiring everybody to belong to 
some sect of the recognized religions of Japan, and to have a 
Drusi in their houses—that is, a corner or altar consecrated to some 
idol. Nevertheless, in spite of his favorable reception and eminent 
learning and sanctity. Ingen failed to gain the submission of the 
various Buddhist sects in Japan; nor was his spiritual headship 
acknowledged, except by the three Chinese convents. 

Though the prohibition of the export of silver, mentioned as hav¬ 
ing taken place in 1671, did not affect the Dutch, the very next 
year the Japanese commenced a system of measures which, within 
a quarter of a century, reduced the Dutch commerce to the very 
narrow limit at which it has ever since remained. The first step 
was to raise the value of the kobang to six tael eight maas of sil¬ 
ver ; nor was this by any means the worst of it. The Dutch were 



RESTRICTIONS ON THE DUTCH TRADE. 


213 


no longer allowed to sell their goods to the native merchants. Tho 
government appointed appraisers, who sOt a certain value on the 
goods, much less than the old prices, at which valuation the Dutch 
must sell, or else take the goods away. Anything which the goods 
sold for to the Japanese merchants, over the appraisement, went 
into the town treasury of Nagasaki.* These appraisements grew 
lower and lower, every year, till at last the Dutch, threatening, if 
things went on in this way, to abandon the trade altogether, peti¬ 
tioned the emperor to be restored to their ancient privileges, 
assured to them by the concession of Gongin-Sama. After waiting 
three years, they got a gracious answer. The appraisements were 
abolished, but at the same time, in 1685, an order was suddenly 
issued, limiting the amount which the Dutch might sell in any one 
year to the value of three hundred thousand taels, or in Dutch 
money to ten tons and a half of gold, equal to four hundred and 

* Unfortunately for the English, their attempt at a revival of intercourse, 
mentioned in the last chapter, was made the very year of the introduction 
of this new check on foreign trade. The appraisement extended as well to 
the Chinese as the Dutch cargoes, as is apparent from the following closing 
paragraph of the English narrative : “ During the time [July and August, 
1672] we were in port, there came twelve junks in all, eight from Batavia, 
two from Siam, one from Canton, one from Cambodia, and six Dutch ships 
of the Company’s. They had not any from Tycoun [Formosa], by reason 
the year before they put the price upon their sugar and skins : and so they 
intend to do for all other people, for whatsoever goods shall be brought to 
their port; which if they do, few will seek after their commodities on such 
unequal terms.” 

There is strong reason to suppose that these new restrictions on foreign 
trade grew out of the diminished produce of thd mines, which furnished the 
chief article of export. The working of these mines seems to have greatly 
increased after the pacification of Japan by its subjection to the imperial 
authority. Such is the statement in the Japanese tract on the wealth of 
Japan, already referred to. According to this tract, the first gold coins were 
struck by Taiko-Sama. This increase of metallic product seems to have 
given, about the time of the commencement of the Dutch trade, a new im¬ 
pulse to foreign commerce. Though the Portuguese trade had been stopped, 
it had been a good deal more than replaced by the increase of the Chinese 
traffic, and already the metallic drain appears to have been seriously felt. 
This is a much more likely reason for the policy now adopted than the mere 
personal hostility of certain Japanese grandees, to which the Dutch at Desi- 
ma, and Kampfer as their echo, ascribed it. 



214 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1642—1690. 


twenty thousand dollars. All the goods of any one year’s importa¬ 
tion, remaining after that amount had been realized, were to lay over 
till the next annual sale. At the same time, the annual export of 
copper was limited to twenty-five thousand piculs; and so matters 
stood at the time of Kampfer’s visit. 

The Chinese trade had meanwhile gone on increasing “ to that 
degree”—we quote again from Kampfer— “ as to make the sus¬ 
picious and circumspect Japanese extremely jealous of them. In 
the years 1683 and 1684, there arrived at Nagasaki, in each year, 
at least two hundred junks, every junk with not less than fifty 
people on board, making for each year more than ten thousand Chi¬ 
nese visitors.” Nor was it trade alone that drew the Chinese 
thither. In China, the women, except those of servile condition, 
are kept in perfect seclusion. No man sees even the woman he is 
to marry, till she has actually become his wife; and courtesanship is 
strictly forbidden and punished. The case, as we have seen, is 
widely different in Japan, and numerous young and wealthy Chinese 
were attracted to Nagasaki, “ purely for their pleasure,” as Kiimpfer 
observes, “ and to spend some part of their money with Japanese 
wenches, which proved very beneficial to that town,” — truly a very 
mercantile view of the matter ! 

“ Not only did this increasing number of Chinese visitors excite 
jealousy ; but what still more aroused the suspicion of the Japanese 
was, that the Jesuits, having gained the favor of the then reigning 
monarch of China, [the celebrated Kanghi,] with the liberty of 
preaching and propagating their religion in all parts of the empire, 
some tracts and books, which the Jesuit fathers had found the 
means to print in China, in Chinese characters, were brought over 
to Japan among other Chinese books, and sold privately, which 
made the Japanese, apprehensive that by this means the Catholic 
religion, which had been exterminated with so much trouble and 
the loss of so many thousand persons, might be revived again in the 
country.” And they even suspected that the importers of these 
books, if not actual converts, were at least favorers of the Catholic 
doctrine. 

These reasons combined to produce, in 1684, at the same time 
with the restrictions placed upon the Dutch, an edict, by which the 
Chinese were limited to an annual importation, double the value 





RESTRICTIONS ON THE CHINESE TRADE. • 215 


of that allowed the Dutch; namely, six hundred thousand taels, 
equivalent to eight hundred and forty thousand dollars, the annual 
number of junks not to exceed seventy, of which a specific number 
was assigned to each province and colony, and each to bring not 
more than thirty persons. Chinese books were, at the same time, 
subjected to a censorship, two censors being appointed, one for theo¬ 
logical, the other for historical and scientific works, none to be 
imported without their approval. 

This was followed up, in the year 1688 , by another order, by 
which the Chinese were, like the Dutch, shut up in a sort of prison, 
for which, like the Dutch, they were compelled to pay a heavy rent. 
The site chosen for this spot was a garden, pleasantly situated, 
just outside of the town, on the side of the harbor opposite Desima. 
It was covered with several rows of small houses, each row having 
a common roof, and the whole was surrounded with a ditch and a 
strong palisade, from which the only exit was through well-guarded 
double gates.* Even here the Chinese had no permanent residence, 
like the Dutch. They arrived in detachments, twenty junks in 
spring, thirty in summer, and twenty in autumn; and, after sellmg 
their goods, went away, leaving the houses empty. 

Besides the trade with the Dutch and the Chinese, the Lew Chew 
Islands were also permitted to carry on a particular trade with the 
province of Satsuma, the prince of which they acknowledged as in 
some respects their sovereign. The import and sale of their goods 
was limited to the annual amount of one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand taels, though, in Kampfer’s time, a much larger amount 
was smuggled in, large quantities of Chinese goods being thus 
introduced. 

* According to Titsingh, the Chinese factory was removed, in 1780, to a 
new situation, the site of an ancient temple. He gives a plan of the new 
factory after a Japanese draft. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 


ENGELBERT KAMPFER. — HIS VISIT TO JAPAN.-DESIMA AND ITS INHABIT¬ 
ANTS AS DESCRIBED BY HIM.-A. D. 1690. 

Engelbert Kampfer was the first scientific and systematic observer 
who visited Japan. Of those who have since followed him, but one 
or two had either his zeal, his assiduity, or his qualifications, and 
it is to him that we. remain indebted for no inconsiderable part of 
what we yet know of that country, especially of its natural history, 
and its social, religious and political institutions. Subsequent vis¬ 
itors, correcting him in some few particulars, have generally con¬ 
firmed him. The Japanese, according to the most recent observa¬ 
tions, appear to have changed very little since his time. 

Kampfer was born Sept., 1651, in the north-west of Germany, in 
the county of Lippe, at Lemgow, a small town of which his father 
was minister. He was early destined for the profession of physic, 
and, after the best school education his father could give him, spent 
three years at the university of Cracow, in Poland, and four years 
more at that of Koningsburg, in Prussia. Thence he passed to 
Sweden, where, inspired with a desire of seeing foreign countries, 
he obtained the place of secretary to an embassy about to be sent 
to the king of Persia. That country he reached by way of Moscow, 
Astracan and the Caspian Sea, arriving at Ispahan in 1684. Dur¬ 
ing his residence there, he employed himself chiefly in researches 
into the natural history of the country; and for the sake of con¬ 
tinuing those researches, when the embassy was the next year about 
to return home, he obtained, through the recommendation of the 
Swedish ambassador, the place of chief surgeon to the Dutch East 
India Company’s fleet, then cruising in the Persian Gulf. “ It 
agreed best with my inclination,” so he says in the preface to his 
work on Japan, “ to undertake a further journey, and I chose 


ENGELBERT KAMPEER. 


217 


rather to lead the restless and troublesome life of a traveller, than 
by coming home to subject myself to a share in that train of calam¬ 
ities my native country was then involved in. Therefore, I took 
my leave of the ambassador and his retinue (who did me the honor 
to attend me a mile out of Ispahan) with a firm resolution to spend 
some years longer in seeing other eastern courts, countries and 
nations. I was never used to receive large supplies of money from 
home. ’T was by my own industry I had till then supported my¬ 
self, and the very same means maintained me afterwards, as long 
as I staid abroad, and enabled me to serve the Dutch East India 
Company, though in a less honorable employment. 

“This ofispring of Japhet enjoys, more than any other European 
nation, the blessing of Noah to live in the tents of Shem, and to 
have Canaan for their servant. God hath so blessed their valor 
and conduct, that they have enlarged their trade, conquests and 
possessions, throughout Asia, to the very extremities of the East, 
and there hath never been wanting among them a succession of 
prudent and able men, who have promoted their interests and wel¬ 
fare to the utmost of their capacity. But to come to the point. It 
was by the gracious leave, and under the protection, of this honora¬ 
ble Company, that I have often obtained my end in the Indies, and 
have had the satisfaction at last to see the remote empire of Japan, 
and the court of its powerful monarch.” 

Kampfer remained at Gamroon, on the Persian Gulf, for near 
three years, employing his leisure in scientific researches. Leaving 
that unhealthy station in June, 1688, he proceeded in the fleet along 
the coasts of Persia and India to Ceylon, and thence by Sumatra to 
Batavia, where he arrived in September, 1689. Having obtained- 
the appointment of physician to the factory in Japan, he left Bata¬ 
via in May, 1690, and having touched at Siam, of which he has 
given an account in his book, on the 22d of September, about noon, 
he came in sight of the high mountainous country about Nagasaki. 
As soon as the land was seen, all on board were required, as the 
usao-c was, to give up their prayer-books and other books of divin¬ 
ity, as also all the European money they had about them, to the 
captain, who, having taken a memorandum of them, packed away 
all these surrendered articles in an old cask, to be hid away from 
the Japanese, but to be surrendered to the owners on leaving 
19 



218 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690. 


Japan. At sunset, Nagasaki was six or seven leagues distant. 
At midnight they reached the entrance of the bay, in which they 
found fifty fathoms of water. This entrance was full of rocks and 
islands, which obliged them to wait till morning; and then, being 
becalmed, they fired camion to notify their arrival. These were 
heard at the Dutch factory, six miles distant, and in the afternoon 
four small vessels came out with some persons from the factory, 
accompanied by swarms of Japanese ofiicers, clerks and soldiers, 
and the chief interpreter, who, on boarding the ship, demanded all 
writings and letters, in the hands of whomsoever they might be. 
They soon left, and the ship followed slowly, making her way by 
hedging, till by ten at night she dropped anchor within half a 
league of the city. The next morning she was towed in still further 
by a fieet of Japanese boats. 

The harbor was found to be well protected, and completely en¬ 
closed by rocks, islands and mountains, on the tops of which 
were guard-houses, from which those on the look-out, had, by means 
of their spy-glasses, detected the ship shortly after she had made the 
land, and had given notice of her arrival to the authorities. Along 
the shore several bastions were seen, with palisades painted red, but 
no cannon ; and on the hills several fortifications, screened by cloths, 
so as to prevent what was in them from being visible. 

Having dropped anchor within three hundred yards of the island 
of Desima, they were again boarded by two Japanese ofiicers, with 
a host of attendants, who made a careful examination of all on board, 
according to a list given them, writing down their names and busi¬ 
ness. Five or six of the number were then subjected to a strict 
cross-examination as to all the particulars of the voyage. It so 
happened that the steward had died, the day before their arrival, 
of a fit of apoplexy, consequent upon his being denied any more 
arrack, or brandy — apart from his drinking, an able man, and, as 
Kiimpfer tells us, the son of a noted divine at the Hague, but who, 
by early indulgence, had fallen into debaucheries and a dissolute 
life. Many questions were asked about the dead man, and his 
breast and other parts of the corpse were carefully examined to see 
if there were any cross or other mark of the popish religion upon 
it. After much urging, the Japanese consented to the immediate 




219 


KAMPFER LANDS AT DESIMA. 


removal of the body ; but none of the ship’s company were allowed 
to attend, or to see what was done with it. 

As soon as this roll-calling and examination were over, Japanese 
soldiers and revenue officers were put into every corner, and the 
ship was, as it were, completely taken out of the hands of the Dutch. 
For that day only, they were left in possession of the boats to look 
after the anchor; but all their arms and gunpowder were taken 
away. “ In short,” says Kiimpfer, “ had I not been beforehand 
acquainted with their usual proceedings, I could not have helped 
thinking that we had got into a hostile country, and had been taken 
for spies.” That evening was received from the factory a supply 
of fowls, eggs, fish, shell-fish, turnips, radishes, — which, as Kiimpfer 
afterwards observed, were largely cultivated, and formed a great 
part of the food of the country people, — onions, fresh ginger, 
pumpkins, watermelons, white bread, and a barrel of saki, or Jap¬ 
anese rice-beer. 

On the twenty-ninth the officers of the factory came on board, 
and calling the ship’s company together, read to them the orders 
of the Dutch East India Company, and of the governor of Naga¬ 
saki, to the effect that every one was to behave soberly and dis¬ 
creetly with respect to the natives and to the laws and customs of 
the country. A paper containing these orders, written in Dutch, 
was, according to the Japanese custom, left on board for everybody 
to read. No one, except the captain of the ship and the director, or 
head officer (in Dutch, Opperhoofd), of the factory, could leave the 
ship for Desima, or return on board again, without a written pass¬ 
port, in the one case granted by the Japanese officers on board, in 
the other by those upon the island. On the twenty-sixth Kampfer 
took his goods and landed for his two years’ residence on the island. 
It was his object to get all the knowledge he possibly could of the 
present state and past history of Japan; but in this he encoun¬ 
tered many difficulties. The Japanese officers, with whom the 
Dutch came in contact, were all bound by an oath, renewed every 
year, not to talk with the Dutch, nor to make any disclosures to 
them, respecting the domestic affairs of the country, its religion, or 
its politics; and not only that, they were also bound by oath to 
watch and report each other — which fear of being informed 
against was indeed their chief dread and restraint. “ Naturally 




220 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1C90. 


the Japanese were,” in Kampfer’s opinion, “ their pride of warlike 
humor being set aside, as civil, as polite and curious a nation as 
any in the world, naturally inclined to commerce and familiarity 
with foreigners, and desirous to excess to be informed of their his¬ 
tories, arts and sciences. But,” he adds, “ as we are only mer¬ 
chants, whom they place in the lowest class of mankind, and as 
the narrow inspection we are kept under must naturally lead them 
to some jealousy and mistrust, so there is no other way to gain 
their friendship, and to win them over to our interest, but a willing- 
ne>ss to comply with their desire, a liberality to please their avari¬ 
cious inclinations, and a submissive conduct to flatter their vanity. 
’T was by this means I worked myself into such a friendship and 
familiarity with my interpreters, and the otficers of our island, who 
daily came over to us, as I believe none before me could boast of, 
ever since we have been put under such narrow regulations. Lib¬ 
erally assisting them as I did with my advice and medicines, with 
what information I was able to give them in astronomy and mathe¬ 
matics, and with a cordial and plentiful supply of European licpiors, 
I could also in my turn freely put to them what questions I pleased 
about the affairs of their country, whether relating to the govern¬ 
ment in civil or ecclesiastical affairs, to the customs of the natives, 
to the natural and political history; and there was none that ever 
refused to give me all the information he could, when we were alone, 
even of things which they are strictly charged to keep secret. The 
private informations thus procured from those who came to visit me 
were of great use to me in collecting materials for my intended his¬ 
tory of this country; but yet they fell far short of being altogether 
satisfactory, and I should not, perhaps, have been able to compass 
that design, if I had not by good luck met with other opportunities, 
and in particular the assistance of a discreet young man, by whose 
means I was richly supplied with whatever information I wanted 
concerning the affairs of Japan. lie was about twenty-four years 
of age, well versed in the Chinese and Japanese languages, and 
very desirous of improving himself. Upon my arrival, he was 
appointed to wait upon me as my servant, and at the same time to 
be by me instructed in physic and surgery. The Ottona, who is 
the chief oflicer of our island [of Desima], having been attended by 
him under my inspection in a serious illness, suffered him to con- 





kampfer’s means of information. 


221 


tinue in my service during the whole time of my abode in the coun¬ 
try, which was two years, and to attend me in pur two journeys to 
court, consequently four times, almost from one end of the empire 
to the other — a favor seldom granted to young men of his age, 
and never for so long a time. As I could not well have obtained 
my end without giving him a competent knowledge of the Dutch 
language, I instructed him therein with so much success, that in a 
year’s time he could write and read it better than any of our inter¬ 
preters. I also gave him all the information I could in anatomy 
and physic, and further allowed him a handsome yearly salary to 
the best of my ability. In return I employed him to procure me 
as ample accounts as possible of the then state and condition of the 
country, its government, the imperial court, the religions established 
in the empire, the history of former ages, and remarkable daily 
occurrences. There was not a book I desired to see on these and 
other subjects, which he did not bring to me, and explain to me out 
of it whatever I wanted to know. And because he was obliged, in 
several things, to inquire, or to borrow, or to buy of other people, 
I never dismissed him without providing him with money for such 
purposes, besides his yearly allowance. So expensive, so difi&cult a 
thing is it to foreigners, ever since the shutting up of the Japancse 
empire, to procure any information about it.” 

After two years thus spent, Kampfer left Japan in November, 
1692, and reached Amsterdam, by way of Batavia, the October 
following, bringing with him a very rare collection of Japanese 
books, maps, coins, &c. It had been his intention immediately on 
his return to prepare his notes and memoirs for publication; but 
being appointed physician to the count of Lippe, his native prince, 
and speedily obtaining a large private practice, and assuming also 
the responsibility and cares of a family, this purpose was long de¬ 
layed. His Amoenitates Exoticae^ notes of his eastern travels, did 
not appear till 1712, and he died in 1716, leaving his History of 
Japan still unpublished. It first appeared in 1727, translated from 
the German into English, and published in two folios, with numer¬ 
ous engravings,* under the patronage of Sir Hans Slpane and the 

* Tbunberg notices an odd mistake by the engravers, in representing the 
Japanese as wearing their swords as we do. with the edge downward, where¬ 
as their custom is just the reverse, the edge being turned upwards. 

19* 



222 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690. 


Koyal Society. There was prefixed to it by the translator, Dr. L 
a. Scheuchzer, a valuable introduction, containing a catalogue of 
works upon Japan, which Charlevoix, in the'similar catalogue at 
the end of his History of Japan, has mainly copied as was done 
also by his publishers, as to most of Kampfer’s engravings. 

Kampfer’s work is divided into five books. The first book con- 
tains, first, a general and particular geographical description of the 
empire, derived mainly from Japanese writers; second, a disquisi¬ 
tion on the origin of the Japanese, — whom Kampfer thinks, from 
the evidence as well of language as of character, not to be a 
Chinese colony, nor even to belong to the same stock; thii d, the 
stories, e\ddently mythical, which the Japanese give of their own 
origin ; and fourth, an account of the climate of Japan, its miner¬ 
als and metals, plants, animals, reptiles, fish and shells. 

The second book devoted to the political state of Japan contains, 
first, their mythological history; second, the annals of the Dairi, 
with a description of their court and residence; and third, a list 
of the Kubo-Sama. This part of the work, at least the annals, is 
sufficiently dry; but it contains the substance of all that the 
Japanese know or believe as to the chronology of their own 
history. 

The third book describes the religious state of Japan, giving 
an analytical view of the difierent creeds prevailing there, such as 
throws great light upon the confused and mixed up view taken in 
the letters of the Jesuit missionaries. 

The fourth book treats of foreign relations and trade. The rise 
and fall of the Portuguese missions, although the most interesting 
portion of the history of Japan, is very slightly touched upon, as it 
seems to have been no part of Kampfer’s plan to revamp old 
materials, but to collect new ones. 

The fifth book, and much the largest, is devoted to his two jour¬ 
neys from Nagasaki to Jedo and back — those journeys having 
furnished him with the principal opportunity he enjoyed of seeing 
Japan as it was. 

“ The place where the Dutch live,” says Kampfer, “ is called 
Desivia, that is, the Fore Island, the island situated before the 
town; also, Desimamatz, or the Fore Island Street, it being reck- 





DESCRIPTION OF DESIMA. 


223 


oned as one of the streets of Nagasaki. It has been raised from 
the bottom, which is rocky and sandy, lying bare at low water. 
The foundation is of free-stone, and it rises about half a fathom 
above high water mark. In shape it nearly resembles a fan with¬ 
out a handle, being of an oblong square figure, the two longer 
sides segments of a circle. It is joined to the town by a small 
stone bridge, a few paces long, at the end of which is a guard-house, 
where there are soldiers constantly upon duty. On the north, or 
seaward side, are two strong gates, never opened but for lading and 
unlading the Dutch ships. The island is enclosed with pretty 
high deal boards, covered with small roofs, on the top of which is 
planted a double row of pikes, like a chevaux-de-frise, but the whole 
very weak, and unable to hold out against any force. 

“ Some few paces off, in the water, are thirteen posts, standing at 
proper distances, with small wooden tablets at the top, upon which 
is written, in large Japanese characters, an order from the gov¬ 
ernors, strictly forbidding all boats or vessels, under severe penalties, 
to come within these posts, or to approach the island. 

“ Just by the bridge, towards the town, is a place where they 
put up the imperial mandates and proclamations, and the orders of 
the governors. 

“ Besides this, the ottona, or chief ofllicer of the street, chiefly 
at the time of the sale, causes orders of his own, much to the same 
purpose with those of the governors, to be put up on the other side 
of the bridge, just by the entry into the island.* 

“ By my own measuring I found the breadth to be eighty-two 
common paces, and the length of the longest side two hundred and 
thirty-six. The surface is commonly estimated at a stadium (about 

* A translation of one of these tablets is given by Kampfer, as follows : 

“Courtesans only, but no other women, shall be admitted. Only the 
ecclesiastics of the mountain Kofu shall be admitted. All other priests, 
and iiW Jammabos, shall stand excluded.” [Note by Kampfer. — Kofu is 
stated to be a mountain near Miako, a sanctuary and asylum for criminals, 
no officers of justice being suffered to come there. Its inhabitants, many 
thousand in number, lead an ecclesiastical life. All are admitted that de¬ 
sire it, or who fly there for shelter, and are afterwards maintained for life, 
if they can but bring in thirty taels for the use of the convent, and are 
otherwise willing to serve the community in their several capacities. These 
monks are not absolutely confined to this mountain, but many travel up and 




224 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


three acres). There is a narrow walk to go round along the deal 
boards which enclose it. The houses are on both sides of a broad 
street that runs across the island. These houses, and the whole 
island, were built at the expense of some of the inhabitants of Naga¬ 
saki, to whom, or their heirs, the Dutch pay a yearly rent of six 
thousand five hundred taels — a price far beyond the real value. 
The houses, built of wood, and very sorry and poor, are two stories 
high, the lower stories serving as warehouses, and the uppermost 
to live in. 

“ The other buildings are three guard-houses, one at each end 
and one in the middle of the island, and a place by the entrance, 
where are kept all the necessary instruments to extinguish fires. 
Water for the kitchen and for common use, which is a separate 
charge in addition to the rent, comes from the river which runs 
through the town, being brought over in pipes made of bamboos, 
into a reservoir within the island. 

“ Behind the street is a convenient house for the sale of goods, 
and two warehouses, strong enough to hold out against fire, built 
by the Company at their own expense; also, a large kitchen; a 
house for the deputies of the governors of Nagasaki, who have the 
regulation of the trade; a house for the interpreters, made use of 
only at the time of the sale; a kitchen and pleasure-garden; a 
place to wash linen and other things; some small private gardens, 
and a bath. The ottona, or chief ofiicer of the street, has also a 
house and garden of his own. 

“ Such,” says Kampfer, “ is the state of the island,” and such it 
continues to the present time, “ to the small compass of which the 
Dutch have been confined by the Japanese; and as things now 
stand, we must be so far satisfied with it, there being no hopes that 
we shall ever be better accommodated or allowed more liberty by 
so jealous and circumspect a nation. 

down the country, in what manner or business they please. Very many of 
them betake themselves to trade and commerce.] 

“ All beggars, and all persons that live on charity, shall be denied entrance. 

“Nobody shall presume with any ship or boat to come within the pali¬ 
sades of Desima. Nobody shall presume with any ship or boat to pass under 
the bridge of Desima. 

“ No Hollander shall be permitted to come out, but for weighty reasons.’* 



THE DUTCH AT DESIMA. 


225 


“ Our ships, which put into this harbor once a year, after they 
have been thoroughly visited by the Japanese, and proper lists 
taken of all the goods on board, have leave to put their men on 
shore on this island to refresh them, and to keep them there so long 
as they lie in the harbor, commonly two or three months. After 
they have left, the director of our trade remains in the island, with 
a small number of people, about seven, or more if he thinks proper. 

“ Thus we live all the year round little better than prisoners, 
confined within the compass of a small island, under the perpetual 
and narrow inspection of our keepers. ’T is true, indeed, we are 
now and then allowed a small escape, an indulgence which, without 
flattering ourselves, we can by no means suppose to be an effect of 
their love and friendship, for as much as it is never granted to us, 
unless it be to pay our respects to some great men, or for some 
other business, necessary on our side and advantageous for the 
natives. Nor doth the coming out, even upon these occasions, give 
us any greater liberty than we enjoy on our island, as will appear, 
first, by the great expenses of our journeys and visits, great or 
small, and by the number of guards and inspectors who constantly 
attend us, as if we were traitors and professed enemies of the 
empire. 

“ ikfter the departure of our ships, the director of our trade, or 
resident of the Dutch East India Company, sets out with a 
numerous retinue on his journey to court, to pay his respects to 
the emperor, and to make the usual yearly presents. This journey 
must be made once a year, not only by the Dutch, but, also, by all 
the lords and princes of the empire, as being the emperor’s vassals; 
and our own embassy is looked upon at court as an homage paid 
by the Dutch nation to the emperor of Japan, as their sovereign 
lord. Upon the journey we are not allowed any more liberty than 
even close prisoners could reasonably claim. We are not sufiered 
to speak to anybody, not even (except by special leave) to the 
domestics and servants of the inns we lodge at. As soon as we 
come to an inn, we are without delay carried up stairs, if possible, 
or into the back apartments, which have no other view but into 
the yard, which, for a still greater security, and to prevent any 
thoughts of escape, is immediately shut and nailed up. Our reti¬ 
nue, which, by special command from the governors of Nagasaki, 



226 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


guards, attends, and assists us in our journey, is composed of the 
interpreters and cooks of our island, and of a good number of 
soldiers, servants, bailiffs, porters, and people, to look after our 
horses and baggage, which must be conveyed on horseback. All 
these people, though never so needless, must be maintained at the 
Company’s expense.* 

“ Before our departure from Jedo, and again upon our return, 
our director, with one of his Company, goes to make a visit to the 
governors of Nagasaki, at their palace, to return them thanks for 
their protection, and to entreat its continuance. Nor can even this 
visit be made without a numerous train of guards, soldiers, and 
bailiffs. 

« Another visit, and with the like numerous attendants, is made 
to the governors, by the director of our factory, upon the first day 
of the eighth month, when it is usual to make them a present. 

“ The few Dutchmen who remain at Desima, after the departure 
of our ships, are permitted, once or twice a year, to take a walk 
into the adjacent country, and in particular to view the temples 
about Nagasaki. This liberty is oftener granted to physicians and 
surgeons, under pretence of going to search for medicinal plants. 
However, this pleasure-walk falls very expensive to us, for it must 
be made in company of the Ottona, of our ordinary interpreters, 
and other ofiicers in our service, who are handsomely treated by us 
at dinner in one of the temples of the Ikosiu sect; and we must on 
this occasion, and that with seeming satisfaction, see our puises 
strongly squeezed for the most common civilities shown us by the 
priests of that temple. 

» The festival of Suwa, the patron and protector of Nagasaki, 
falling just upon the time when our ships lie in the harbor, our 
people are permitted to view this solemnity from a scaffold, built 
at our own expense, our presence being not only thought honorable 
to their saint, but, what they value still more, advantageous to 
many of his worshippers. It may be easily imagined that our train 
and guards are not lessened upon such an occasion. On the con¬ 
trary, we are examined and searched four times before we come to 
the place where the solemnity is performed, and again afterwards 
counted over several times with all possible accuracy, when we go 

* For a full account of this journey, see chap, xxxi., &c. 




THE DUTCH AT DESIMA. 


227 


up and when we come down from the scaffold, as if it were possible 
for some of us to slip out between their fingers. Our slaves, also, 
are admitted to this solemnity, as black Dutchmen.* 

“ Another day is set apart for viewing five large boats, which 
must be constantly kept, at the expense of the Dutch East India 
Company, for the lading and unlading of our ships. This is 
again done with the same numerous retinue, which we afterwards 
entertain at dinner at one of the neighboring temples. 

“ When one of our ships hath been discovered to steer towards 
the harbor, some of the Dutchmen left at Desima are sent to meet 
her, in order to get a preliminary information of her cargo and 
condition. The Company for this purpose constantly keeps two 
barges in readiness, large enough to take on board our usual 
numerous attendants, which, together with the commissioners for 
victualling, attending in their own barge, with a good provision of 
victuals and refreshments, must be treated in the neighboring small 
island, Iwara-gosima, the whole again at the Company’s expense. 

“ These are the days allowed us for our recreation, if it may be 
called a recreation to be led about, like prisoners, under the narrow 
inspection of so many attentive eyes; for, as to the several officers 
concerned in the management of our island and trade, and permit¬ 
ted on that account to converse with us, no sincere friendship, good 
understanding, or familiarity, can be by any means expected of 
them ; for, before they are admitted into our service, they must 
oblige themselves, by a solemn oath, to deny us all manner of com¬ 
munication, credit, or friendship, any ways tending to support or 
promote our interest. 

, “ The person who takes this oath prays the vengeance of the 

supreme gods of the heavens and the chief magistrates of the 
country upon him, his family, his domestics, his friends and near 
I relatives, in case he doth not sincerely fulfil and satisfy to all and 
I every article, as they are read and specified to him after the form 
I of the oath, which, together with these articles, must be signed by 
him, and sealed with his seal,! dipped in black ink, pouring, for a 

I 4 

* For an account of this festival, see chap. xxx. 

t The custom of using an emblem, or device, instead of a signature, or to 
; certify it, prevails with the Japanese, as with so many other nations. 

I 






228 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1C90. 


still stronger confirmation, some drops of liis own blood upon it, 
which he fetches by pricking one of his fingers behind the nail. 
This must be repeated twice a year, at least: first, about the 
beginning of the year, at the time when they perforin the solemn 
act of theirs of trampling upon the image of our blessed Saviour, 
pendent from the cross, of the Virgin Mary, and of other holy per¬ 
sons, as a public and unquestionable proof that they forever re¬ 
nounce the Christian religion and again, after the arrival of our 
ships in the harbor, in order to remind them of the solemn obliga¬ 
tion they lay under, and to renew their hatred towards us. The 
persons who are to attend us in our journey to court must, imme¬ 
diately after their departure, take a third oath, promising that 
they will have a strict hand and watchful eye over us and our 
conduct all along the road, and that they will not show us any 
particular acts of friendship, or enter into any kind of familiarity 
with us. ^ 

“ This oath, however, though never so terrible and binding, 
would be but little regarded by this nation, were it not for the 
severe punishment put by the civil magistrate upon the least trans¬ 
gression thereof, — a crime that is not to be expiated but by shed¬ 
ding the very same blood the oath hath been confirmed by. 

“ Thus much I cannot forbear owning, in justice to the natives, 
that, even amidst all the troubles and hardships we are exposed to 
in this country, we have at least this comfort, that we are treated 
by our numerous guardians and overseers with apparent civility, 
with caresses, compliments, presents of victuals, and other marks 
of deference, so far as it is not inconsistent with their reasons of 
state. But this, their gentle and reasonable behavior on our be¬ 
half, is owing more to the custom of the country, and to the innate 
civility and good manners of the natives, than to any particular 
esteem they have for us, or any favor they are willing to show us. 

“ No Japanese, who seems to have any regard or friendship for 
the Dutch, is looked upon as an honest man and true lover of his 
country. This maxim is grounded upon the principle that it is 
absolutely contrary to the interests oD the country, against the 
pleasure of their sovereign, — nay, by virtue of the oath they have 
taken, even against the supreme will of the gods, and the dictates 

* See further in relation to this ceremony, chap. xxx. 




THE DUTCH AT DESIMA. 


229 


of their conscience, — to show any favor to foreigners. Nay, they 
pursue this false reasoning still further, and pretend that a friend 
of foreigners must of necessity be an enemy to his country, and a 
rebel to his sovereign; for, they say, if the country should hap¬ 
pen to be attacked or invaded by these foreigners, the laws and 
ties of friendship would oblige him to stand by them, and, conse¬ 
quently, to become a traitor to his country and sovereign. 

“ Hence, to overreach a Dutchman; to ask extravagant prices 
of him; to cheat and defraud him (so much as they think will not 
prove prejudicial to their reputation, which they have a very 
tender regard for); to lessen the liberties and advantages of the 
Dutch; to propose new projects for making their servitude and 
condition still worse, and the like, are looked upon as good, hand¬ 
some, and lawful things in themselves, and unquestionable proofs 
of a good patriot. 

“ If anybody steals anything of the Dutch, and it be found upon 
him (which the Tmli^ or porters, we employ at the time of our sale 
are very dexterous at), there is seldom any other punishment 
inflicted upon him but restitution of the stolen goods, and a few 
lashes from soldiers upon duty at our gate. Sometimes he is ban¬ 
ished from the island for a short time, or, if the crime be very 
notorious, from the town, though that is done but seldom. But 
the penalty inflicted upon smugglers is no less than an unavoidable 
death, either by beheading or the cross, according to the nature of 
the crime, and the degree of guilt. 

“ The lading and unlading of our ships, and other business of 
this kind, must not be done by our own people, but by the natives, 
who are well paid for their work, whilst our people stand idle, and 
have nothing to do but to look at them. But this is not the only 
grievance, for they always hire at least twice as many people as 
there is occasion for, and, if they work but one hour, we must, 
nevertheless, pay them a whole day’s wages. 

“ All the people who have anything to do for or with us, though 
never so numerous, and mere meddlers, must be maintained by us, 
either directly by appointed salaries, or indirectly by the money 
which the governors of the town detain from the price of our com¬ 
modities. 

“No Dutchman can send a letter out of the country, unless the 

20 




230 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


contents be first entered into a register-book kept for this purpose, 
and a copy of it left with the governors. As to letters from abroad, 
all the public ones must be sent directly to the governors, before 
they are opened. As to the private ones, there are ways and means 
secretly to convey them to us, which the government connives at, 
though it be contrary to law. 

» No Japanese is permitted to send any letters or presents to 
their relatives abroad (there being still some left from former mar¬ 
riages with the Dutch), or to receive any from them, unless they be 
first carried to the governors, to be by them opened, and left entirely 
at their disposal. 

“ Formerly, when a Dutchman died at Nagasaki, his body, 
deemed unworthy of their ground, was thrown into the sea, some¬ 
where without the harbor. But, of late, an empty spot of waste 
ground was assigned us, and leave given us decently to bury our 
dead there. 

“ It is an easy matter for anybody, whether native or foreigner, 
to make his claims upon the Dutch; but we find it very difficult to 
obtain justice from others. In the first case, the government is 
always willing to give the complaining party damages, without so 
much as considering whether the claim be upon the whole Company, 
or some of its officers and servants, and whether it be just to make 
the former suffer for the misdemeanors of the latter. But, if we 
have any complaint to make, we generally meet with so many 
difficulties and tedious delays as would deter anybody from press¬ 
ing even the most righteous cause. One instance out of many will 
be sufficient. The famous Chinese pirate, Coxanga, having made 
himself master of the island of Formosa, and of our fortress, Tcry- 
ooan, or Zelandia, thereon, we took an opportunity, by way of repri¬ 
sals, to attack a large junk of his, bound for that island, with about 
three hundred men on board, and to disable her with our fire, so 
that, although she drove for about thirteen days after the attack, 
yet not above nine of the whole company saved their lives. Upon 
this, heavy complaints were made by the Chinese to the govern¬ 
ment of Nagasaki, and with so good an effect that the same year 
twenty-seven thousand taels damages were assigned to them out of 
our treasury. Some time after, about the year 1672, one of our 
ships having unfortunately stranded upon the coast of Formosa, the 




CORPORATION OF INTERPRETERS. 


231 


ship’s company was barbarously murdered, and the whole cargo 
taken possession of by the Chinese subjects of Coxanya; where¬ 
upon we made our complaints, before the very same court, against 
this act of hostility, but with so little success, that, far from having 
any damages assigned us, we could not obtain the restitution of so 
much as one farthing. 

“ The chief and most extensive company or corporation of the 
officers of our island, is that of the Interpreters, or, in the literal 
sense, through-mouths. Those of the first order, called true Inter¬ 
preters^ are eight in number. By virtue of their office they are 
obliged to assist and attend us whenever there is occasion; and so 
far, indeed, they execute their duty with great preciseness, that 
we can scarce ever one moment get rid of their importunate pres¬ 
ence ; for as they are made answerable for our conduct, so they 
spare no pains nor trouble to have a watchful eye over us. 

“ Four of these are high interpreters, of whom one is Nindan, signi¬ 
fying a yearly guardian, or person appointed to report upon another. 
This officer is only annual, and to him all petitions and complaints, 
and whatever else relates to us and to our commerce, must be deliv¬ 
ered, and by him, with the consent of his brethren, to the com¬ 
manding governor or his deputy. He hath the greatest share in 
the management of our island, in the direction of our trade, and in 
all our^afiairs in general. The foiu’ other interpreters, though of 
the same order, are called inferior interpreters. They have not 
near the authority of the first four, whom they are to assist in the 
performance of their duties. They, too, have a Nmban, or presi¬ 
dent of their own, who is a sort of deputy to the chief Ninban. 
Both Ninbans attend us in our journey to the court, their year of 
office terminating with their return. 

“ They are paid by fees and presents (to buy their favor), and 
by profits on the hire of laborers for the Company, and horses for 
the journey to court. The whole income of a chief interpreter may 
amount to three thousand taels and upwards, and that of an inferior 
interpreter is seldom less than one thousand five hundred taels ; and 
yet, with all this incopae, they live but sparingly, because they must 
maintain out of this money numerous families, and sometimes poor 
relations, whom, according to the innate pride of this nation, they 
won’t suffer to appear necessitous. Some part, also, of their rev- 




232 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


enue is spent in presents to the governors of Nagasaki and their 
deputies. 

“ Next to the chief interpreters, must be mentioned the learning 
interjn'eters, or apprentices. They are never less than eight, but 
sometimes more, all sons to the chief interpreters, by birth or adop¬ 
tion. They come over to us every day, in order to learn the Dutch 
and Portuguese languages, as well as the art and mystery of dealing 
with foreigners. They are employed as spies upon several occasions, 
as also to inspect the lading and unlading of our ships, to search 
the sailors, and such others as go on board or leave the vessels. 
They also examine the goods imported and exported, and are allowed 
for these services a salary of forty taels a year, besides a share in 
the boarding wages and other perquisites. 

“ After these come the house interpreters, employed by private 
Dutchmen within their own houses. They have nothing to do on 
our island, unless it be at the time of our yearly fair, or sale, when, 
after having taken a solemn oath to avoid all communication, inti¬ 
macy, and lamiliarity with us, they are by the Ottona admitted 
into our service. From two to six are assigned to every Dutch¬ 
man, during the whole time of our fair, nominally as interpreters, 
but in fact as spies to watch his actions ; for there is scarce one in 
ten of them that understands a Dutch word, excepting some few 
who have been servants to the Dutch formerly. 

“ There are upwards of a hundred of these house interpreters, 
who all stand under the command of the chief interpreters, and 
particularly the Ninban, or president for the time being. Their 
salaries, an uncertain sum, taken out of the taxes laid upon the 
Dutch trade, are supposed, one year with another, to amount to 
about six thousand taels, which they divide among themselves, 
according to their rank and office, and as it is computed that the 
twelve chiefs among them get at furthest two hundred taels apiece, 
the rest must take up with half that money, and sometimes with 
less. This company of interpreters have four treasurers and two 
clerks to keep their cash and an account of what is paid in and out. 

“ Two fundamental maxims they go upon: to do what lies in 
their power, insensibly to increase the yearly expenses of the Dutch, 
to the advantage of their countrymen, as becomes true patriots; 
to conceal as much as possible all the tricks and cheats they per- 




THE OTTONA OF DESIMA. 


233 


petually play us, lest the natives should come to know them. Both 
these ends they endeavor to obtain by confining us still more and 
more, looking upon this as the surest means to keep us ignorant of 
the language of the country, and to prevent all conversation and 
familiarity with the natives. If there be any of our people that 
hath made any considerable progress in the Japanese language, 
they are sure, under some pretext or other, to obtain an order from 
the governors to expel him from the country. 

“ The only thing wherein the captains, as they are here called, 
or directors of our trade (a province the Japanese will suffer them 
to have very little to do with), can be useful to the Company and 
show their zeal for their master’s service, is tp act contrary to these 
principles, and to find out ways and means civilly to refuse what 
new requests are from time to time made to them. For if any one 
of these demands be granted but once, or any new charge, though 
never so small, be suffered to be laid upon us, they make it a prece¬ 
dent forever after. And herein they particularly endeavor to 
deceive new directors, who never have been in the country before, 
and whom they suppose to be not fully apprised of their ways of 
proceeding. On this account they will often, on the first year of 
their presence, help them to a very profitable trade, knowing, in 
case their demands be not admitted, how to balance it the next 
with a more chargeable and less profitable one. 

“ The officer next in rank to the president of the interpreters, 
and having jurisdiction over everybody on the island except the 
interpreters, is the Ottona, or magistrate of the street. He has the 
inspection of our trade, and of the yearly sale of our goods, jointly 
with the company of interpreters. He keeps a particular list of 
those of our goods that belong to private persons, keeps those goods 
in his custody, and gives orders when and how they are to be dis¬ 
posed of. He takes care that our street, houses and other build¬ 
ings, be kept in good repair, and likewise, as much as lies in his 
power, that they be not injured by thieves, fire, or other accidents. 
He protects our servants, cooks, daily laborers, and all persons who 
are within his jurisdiction, composes the differences arising between 
them, admits and swears them into their respective employments, 
and dismisses them as he pleases. He gives passports and tickets 
to come to Desima, nobody being permitted to enter this island 
20 * 




234 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


without them. He is obliged, by virtue of his office and by the 
oath he hath taken, narrowly to examine into the conduct, life and 
behavior, not only of our servants and officers, but also of ourselves, 
and to keep us to a strict obedience to the imperial orders, though 
he is very cautious of laying any commands upon us of his own sole 
authority, knowing that we would refuse to obey them. 

“ However, he hath so much power over us that in case any con¬ 
siderable crime be committed, or any disregard shown to the impe¬ 
rial orders, by any one of us, he can arrest him, and lay him in 
irons, of which there are many and almost daily instances. 

“ Our present Ottona, losikawa Gibugemon, as on one side he 
worked himself into no small esteem and favor with the govern¬ 
ment by his great severity in the execution of his office, but chiefly 
by having betrayed us and our interest in a late affair,* so much is 
he, on the other side, hated by us. I will not take upon' me to 
examine what reasons he hath to allege for his conduct in that 
affair, though I have been credibly informed he had very good ones. 
Thus far I must do justice to his character, and own that he shows 
a great deal of prudence in his conduct, that he is no ways given to 
covetousness or falsehood, as, also, that he is an enemy to ignorance 
and brutality, and so well versed in the moral doctrine of Koosi (or 
Confucius), and in the history, laws, and religion of his country, that 
he hath been desired to write the history of the province of Fisen. 

“ The Ottona has under him a Nitzi Josi, or messenger, whose 
business it is daily to examine into the condition and safely of 
the locks at the water-gates, to look into the state of our ware¬ 
houses and other buildings, and to give his master notice of what 
he finds out of repair; also several clerks, who are to make lists 
of all the movable goods belonging to private persons, which may 
be disposed of, to seal them up in the Ottona’s name, and to take 
them into safe custody. 

“ The Ottona hath the same salary allowed him by the Dutch 
East India Company as the chief interpreter, and the same share 
in the money detained by the order of the government from the 
price of our goods, besides several other advantages, as, for instance, 
his salary as Ottona of another street in the town, many presents 
* 

♦ The smuggling affair mentioned on page 249. 




OTHER OFFICERS OP DESIMA. 


235 


and gratifications made him by the proprietors of our island, and a 
considerable part of the yearly rents we pay for the same, he having 
already purchased about a third of our houses. His greatest profits 
arise from the Dutch goods bought up for him at a cheap rate in 
other people’s names, and afterwards sold by him for much more 
than their prime cost. 

“ Next to the Ottona are our twenty-four landlords, or proprie¬ 
tors of our island. They visit us but seldom, except at the time 
of our sale, when they make their appearance daily, to look after 
the condition of our houses, to be present and lend a helping hand 
in making a list of all our commodities, household goods, and other 
things, and, what is more, to have a watchful eye over us, their 
tenants, and to examine into our behavior and conduct, as being, 
by virtue of the laws and customs of the country, answerable for 
the same, and, in case of accidents and misdemeanors, sentenced to 
bear a share either in the loss or punishment. 

“ Next come the five secretaries of the island,, a sort of deputies 
to the chief interpretefs. Their business is to keep an account of 
the presents made by the Dutch, of their ordinary expenses, the 
expenses of their journey to court, and other things of this kind, 
which are thought beneath the dignity of the chief interpreters. 
Nay, they themselves, being not always willing to despatch their 
business in person, keep also their deputies. The Company allows 
a constant salary only to two, and these are to attend us in our 
journey to court. The others are rewarded by handsome gratuities 
at the time of our sale. 

“ The inspectors of our knli^ or workmen, consist of fifteen 
persons. One of the fifteen is quarter-master, who must be present 
in person to encourage and look after them when there is any work 
to be done. The whole company is to take care that we be not 
robbed by these hdis^ they being very dexterous at it, whenever a 
favorable opportunity occurs. For this reason our East India 
Company allows them a constant salary. 

“ The kulis^ who are employed in lading and unlading of our 
ships, are people unknown to us, and taken out of the town. All 

* This is, evidently, the word cooly, employed in India and China to des¬ 
ignate laborers of the lowest class. 




236 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1690. 


we know of them is, that we must pay them well for their trouble. 

In order to make it beneficial to the whole town, the Ottona of each 
street keeps a list of what people in his street are willing or able to 
serve as hulls, that in their turn they may be sent over to Desima. 

“ The treasury officers are a company of thirty-six persons, 
superior and inferior, who receive the money for the goods we have 
disposed of, change it into kobangs of gold, and deliver them to our 
interpreters, who count them before us. These treasurers retain 
one per cent, for their trouble, and fifteen per cent, or more for 
the benefit of the town, according to the yearly value of the kobang, 
which varies from fifty-five to fifty-nine mas in silver, besides which, 
the director of this Company receives a hundred taels a year salary 
from the Dutch, and the rest of the number fifty taels. 

“ Our commissioners for victualling are a company of about 
seventeen house-keepers of Nagasaki with their families. Their 
business is to provide our island with victuals, drink, household 
goods, and what else we want, or have leave to buy, of this kind. 
Nobody but the members of this corporation is permitted to sell us 
any victuals or goods, though they exact so much upon us that they 
make us pay at least twice or thrice as much as things are sold for 
at the market. They also furnish our people, on demand, with 
courtesans; and, truly, our young sailors, unacquainted as they 
commonly are with the virtue of temperance, are not ashamed to 
spend five rix dollars for one night’s pleasure, and with such 
wenches, too, as a native of Nagasaki might have for two or three 
mas, they being none of the best and handsomest; nor do the 
masters of the women get more than a tael. The rest is laid up in 
the cash of this Company for their own private use, or, as they 
pretend, to hire proper servants to conduct the damsels over to our 
island. 

“ The ofiicers of the kitchen consist of three cooks, who serve by ■ 
turns, each a month, of two grooms of the kitchen, an apprentice or 
two, who are generally the cook’s own sons, and likely to succeed 
their fathers in time, lastly of some laborers to carry water. This 
is the reason that our table is so very expensive, since the best part 
of the year, the time of our sale only excepted, there are actually 
more cooks than people to provide victuals for. And yet we have 
strict commands from the governors of the town, not in the least to 



JAPANESE SEKVANTS AT DESIMA. 


237 


alter this number, nor to get our victuals dressed by our own peo¬ 
ple. We are obliged to allow one hundred and fifty taels a year to 
the first, one hundred and thirty to the second, and one hundred to 
the third. There are, besides, some other people who now and then 
do some little service in and for our kitchen, such as a man to look 
after our cattle, — though but very few in number, and of very little 
use to us, the males being generally secretly poisoned, or their legs 
broke in the night, to prevent their multiplying too much, which, 
’t is apprehended would turn to the disadvantage of the commis¬ 
sioners of victualling,—a gardener and some other menial servants. 
This being looked upon by the meaner sort of people at Nagasaki 
as a perquisite, which every one is glad to have a share of in his 
turn, these servants are relieved once a month, and others sent in 
their stead, to do their business, out of every street of Nagasaki. 
But the chief reason why they relieve them so often is because they 
apprehend a longer stay might make them too familiar with us, and 
perhaps too favorable for our interest. 

“ The Dutch, out of a particular favor, are permitted to have 
some young boys to wait upon them in the day-time. They are 
entered in the Ottona’s book in quality of messengers. They are 
commonly sons of the inferior interpreters, and other officers of 
our island, who, by this opportunity of learning the Dutch language, 
qualify themselves in time to succeed their fathers. However, care 
is taken that they stay in our service only so long as they are 
looked upon as simple, and ignorant of the state and interest of 
their country, or else so long as the Ottona pleases to give them 
leave; but never without sufficient security, given upon oath, by a 
respectable inhabitant of Nagasaki, who obliges himself to be an¬ 
swerable for their misbehavior. Thus much must be owned in 
justice to these young boys, that more readiness to do what they 
are commanded, and a greater fidelity in the custody of the goods 
they are entrusted with by their masters, is hardly to be met with 
in any other nation. 

“ Some tradesmen and artificers of several companies in Nagasaki, 
are also permitted to come over to our island, when sent for, pro¬ 
vided they have leave of the governors, which must be obtained 
every time they are wanted. 

“ The guards employed to watch us are two within the island, 



238 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


and three without. Six of the poorer inhabitants of Nagasaki, 
furnished by turns from all the streets, and relieved once a month, 
have their appropriate stations within the island, whence they go 
over to one another all night, and indicate, according to the custom 
of the country, both their vigilance and the hours, by beating two 
wooden cylinders, one against the other. They are also to watch 
thieves, accidents of fire, and the like. 

“ During the sale, another guard, on purpose to watch accidents 
of fire, is kept by our Ottona, his clerks, our landlords, the officers 
of our exchequer, and the cooks. In their first round they knock 
at every door, to ask whether there be no Japanese hid within, and 
to recommend to the occupants to take care of the fire. The Ot¬ 
tona must be present at least once in the night, when, according to 
the custom of the country, his fire-staff, hung about with iron rings, 
as the badge of his authority, is carried rattling after him. The 
Dutch also keep, at the same time, a watch of their own people, to 
take care that their masters be not robbed by their Japanese guards. 

“ The Ship and Harbor Guard, appointed to have a general in¬ 
spection over all foreigners, Chinese as well as Dutch, goes the round 
of the harbor all night, particularly about our island. The Spy 
Guard watches from the mountains back of the town the approach 
of foreign ships. The Gate Guard keeps the gate towards the 
town, that being the only passage in and out. It is mounted daily 
by five persons, their servants not computed. At the time of the 
sale of our goods there are never less than ten, but sometimes twelve 
or more, and to these, its regular members, are added at that time 
two persons from the ship and harbor guard, two from the spy 
guard, four furnished by the town of Nagasaki, four by the silk 
merchants, and two on the part of the two chief magistrates or 
burgomasters of the lower town of Nagasaki, one of whom keeps 
the journal of the guard, wherein (for the information of the gov¬ 
ernors of the town, who, at least once a month, call for this record 
and look it over) is entered what passes from hour to hour, and 
what persons and things go in or out. Yet, without express orders 
from the governors, or leave given by the Ottona, nothing is suffered 
to pass through but what is sent in by those appointed to provide 
us with necessaries and unprohibited goods. For a still greater 
security, three sworn searchers are added to this guard, one or two 



JEALOUS VIGILANCE OVER THE DUTCH. 


239 


of whom attend constantly hard by the gate, to search whoever 
goes in or out. Nor is anybody exempted from being searched but 
the governors, their deputies or commissioners, with their retinues, 
and our ordinary interpreters and their sons, who are entered as 
apprentices. 

“ Such a variety of people of different ranks and characters being 
to do duty upon one guard, it obliges on the one side everybody to 
discharge their duty to the utmost of their power, and on the other 
it puts the government out of all apprehensions of their plotting or 
conspiring together; for, in fact, they are not only to watch us, 
and the people who have business with us, and, on this account, go 
in and out of our island, but each other also. Among the things 
which stand by, or are hung upon the walls of the guard-house, are 
irons to put on criminals, ropes to bind them, heavy staffs to beat 
them, and a particular sort of an instrument, a kind of hook or rake, 
which they make use of to catch thieves and deserters, and which is 
commonly carried about at their public executions. 

“All these people, although they maintain themselves and their 
families entirely by what they get by us and our service, yet from 
their conduct one would think them to be our sworn enemies, 
always intent to do us what mischief they can, and so much the 
more to be feared, as their hatred and enmity is hid under the 
specious color of friendship, deference and good-will. 

“ Considering that there are so very few Dutchmen left in the 
island, one would imagine that the Japanese had no reason to be 
uneasy, or anyways apprehensive of our conduct. Surely such a 
small number of people, and those, too, deprived of arms and ammu¬ 
nition (the very first thing which the J apanese take into their cus¬ 
tody upon the arrival of our ships), would never take it into their 
heads to make any attempt against the peace and tranquillity of the 
empire. As to smuggling, they have too well prevented any 
attempts of that kind, by taking not only an exact inventory of all 
our goods and commodities, but by locking them up under their 
own locks and seals. Even the cloth and stuffs which are brought 
over for our own use must be delivered into the custody of the 
Ottona, till one of their own tailors, sworn for this purpose, cuts 
them, allowing each of us just so much as will make him a good 
suit. But what they have still less reason to be apprehensive of, is 



240 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1C90. 


the subversion of their pagan doctrine and religion, so little con¬ 
spicuous are the principles of Christianity in our lives and actions. 
Nevertheless, so many guards, corporations, societies, with their 
numerous attendants, all upon oath, and themselves jealous and 
mistrustful one of another, are set to guard and narrowly to watch 
us, as if we were the greatest malefactors, traitors, spies—in a word, 
the worst and most dangerous set of people; or, to make use of a 
very significant expression of the Japanese, as if we were, what I 
think we really are, Fitozitz, that is, the emperor’s hostages.” 

It is to be observed that in different parts of his book Kampfer 
appears in two distinct characters. Sometimes he seems to be the 
mere surgeon of the Dutch fiictory, fully sharing and giving voice 
to all the feelings and prejudices of that establishment, bring¬ 
ing before us, in a very lively manner, the angry Dutch factors 
grumbling over the new restrictions lately put upon the Dutch trade, 
and especially the new precautions against smuggling. Elsewhere 
he shows himself perfectly able to enter into all the views and feel¬ 
ings of the Japanese; and however angry he may occasionally 
get at the obstacles encountered by himself, especially on the 
part of the old chief interpreter, in his efforts to obtain a full 
knowledge of Japanese affairs, he had evidently conceived a strong 
liking for the Japanese people, and never fails to do them justice, 
whether as individuals or as a nation. He composed, indeed, a for¬ 
mal dissertation, originally published in his Amesnitates^ in which 
he enters into an elaborate defence of the policy of the Japanese in 
their jealous exclusion of foreigners; nor can any one who calls to 
mind the consequences of that intercourse to the natives of Eastern 
Asia and America, and especially the history of the late Anglo- 
Chinese opium war, deny the plausibility at least of the argument. 




CHAPTER XXVIII. 


PARTICULAR STATEMENT AS TO THE DUTCH TRADE AS IT EXISTED IN KAMPFEr’S 

TIME,-ARRIVAL OF THE SHIPS.-UNLADING.-PASSES. — IMPORTS.- 

COMPANY AND PRIVATE GOODS.-KAMBANGS, OR PUBLIC SALES.-DUTIES. 

■— PROFITS. EXPORTS. DEPARTURE OP THE SHIPS. SMUGGLING. EXE¬ 
CUTION OP SMUGGLERS. 

“ The Dutch ships,’’’ says Kiimpfer, “ are expected some time in 
September, towards the latter end of the south-west monsoon, that 
being the only time proper for this navigation.* As soon as the 
spy guards with their glasses discover ar ship steering towards the 
harbor, and send notice of her approach to the governors of Naga¬ 
saki, three persons of our factory are sent with the usual attendance 
to meet her about two miles without the harbor, and to deliver to 
the captain the necessary instructions, from the director of our trade, 
with regard to his behavior. 

“ The interpreter and the deputies of the governors demand forth¬ 
with the list of the cargo and crew, as also the letters on board, 
which are carried to Nagasaki, where the governors first examine 
and then deliver them to our director. 

“ The ship follows as soon as possible, and, having entered the 
harbor, salutes both imperial guards with all her guns, and casts 
anchor opposite to the town, about a musket-shot from our island. 
If the wind be contrary, rowing-boats (kept for this purpose by the 
common people of the town) are sent at our expense, but not at our 
desire, to tow her in by force. In still weather they send about 
ten of these boats; if it be stormy, and the wind contrary, they 

* Along the east coast of Asia, and as far north as the southern coasts of 
Japan, the winds, during the six months from April to September inclusive, 
blow from south-Avest to north-cast. This is called the south-west monsoon. 
During the other six months they blow from north-east to south-west. This 
is called the north-east monsoon. 

21 


242 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690. 


increase the number to fifty, and sometimes to a hundred — so many 
as they think necessary — that is, at least twice the number there is 
occasion for. 

“ When the ship has entered the harbor, two guard-boats, with a 
good number of soldiers, are put one on each side of her, and con¬ 
tinued, being mounted with fresh troops every day, till she leaves. 
As soon as the ship drops anchor, great numbers of officers come 
on board to demand our guns, cutlasses, swords and other arms, as 
also the gunpowder packed up in barrels, which are taken into their 
custody, and kept in a store-house, built for this purpose, till her 
departure. They attempted, also, in former times, to take out the 
rudder, but, having found it impracticable, they now leave it in. 

“ The next day after her arrival, the commissioners of the gov¬ 
ernor come on board, with their usual attendance of soldiers, inter¬ 
preters, and subordinate officers, to make an exact review, in pres¬ 
ence of our director, of all the people on board, according to the 
list which hath been given them, and wherein is set down every 
one’s name, age, birth, place of residence, and office, examining 
them from top to toe. Many questions are asked, as to those who 
died on the voyage, when and of what distemper they died. Even 
now and then a dead monkey or parrot may occasion a strict in¬ 
quiry to be made after the cause and manner of their death, and 
they are so scrupulous that they will not give their verdict, without 
sitting upon the body itself, and carefully examining it. 

“ After this, the orders of our director, and likewise of the gov¬ 
ernors of Nagasaki, relating to our behavior with regard to the 
natives, are read in Low Dutch, and afterwards, for every one’s 
inspection, stuck up in several places on board the ship, and at 
Desima. The same rules are observed with all our ships, of which 
there are two, three, or four, sent from Batavia to Japan every 
year, according to the quantity of copper they have occasion for; 
one of which goes first to Siam, to make up part of her cargo with 
the commodities of that country. Formerly, when the Dutch as 
yet enjoyed a free trade, they sent seldom less than six or seven 
ships, and sometimes more. 

“ The review being over, they proceed to unlade the ships, dur¬ 
ing which, several of the governors’ officers, a chief interpreter, a 
deputy interpreter, and an apprentice, besides several clerks and 



DUTCH TRADE. 


243 


inferior officers, remain on board, taking possession of every corner, 
to see that nothing be carried away privately. The water gates of 
our island, through which the cargo is to be brought in, are opened 
in presence of the karoo^ that is, high commissioners of the gov¬ 
ernors, and their retinue. So long as the gates are kept open, the 
karoo, with their deputies and other assistants, stay in a room, 
built for this purpose, not far off. The whole body of interpreters, 
as also our landlords, clerks, and other officers of our islg,nd, give 
their attendance, and also their assistance, at that time. They fall 
to work with three hundred or more kuli, or workmen — always at 
least twice the number there is occasion for. The unlading of 
every ship ought to be performed in two days, but, notwithstanding 
the number of men they employ, they generally make a three days* 
work of it, in order to make it so much the more beneficial to the 
town. 

“ The goods are brought from the ship in boats, kept for this 
purpose only, at the Company’s expense. Being brought within 
the water gates, they are laid before the commissioners, who set 
them down in writing, count them, compare them with the list that 
hath been given in (opening a bale or two of each sort, picked out 
from among the rest), and then order them to be locked up, under 
their seal, in the Company’s warehouse, until the day of sale. The 
trunks, belonging to private persons, are set down at the entry of 
the island, and there opened and examined. If the owner doth not 
forthwith appear with the key, they proceed, without any further 
ceremony, to open them with axes. All vendible goods are taken 
out and locked up under their seals. Some other things, also, 
which they do not approve of, as, for instance, arms, stuff, and 
cloth wrought with gold and silver, as also all contraband goods, 
are taken into custody by the Ottona, who returns them to the 
owner upon his departure. 

“No European, nor any other foreign money, and, in general, 
nothing that hath the figure of a cross, saint, or beads, upon it, is 
suffered to pass. If any such thing should be found upon any of 
our people, it would occasion such a confusion and fright among the 
Japanese, as if the whole empire had been betrayed. I have 
already taken notice that, upon our drawing near the harbor, every 
one is obliged to deliver his prayer-books, and other books of 




244 


JAPAN.-A. 1). 1G90. 


divinity, as also all European money, to the captain, who packs 
them all up in an old cask, and hides them. 

“ Those who are newly arrived must sutFer themselves, in going 
in or coming out of our island, to be searched, whether or no they 
have any contraband goods about them. Every one who wishes to 
go on board, whether it be for his own private business, or in the 
Company’s service, is obliged to take out a pass-board from the 
commissioners at the water gates, and, in like manner, when he 
returns on shore, he must take out another from those on the ship. 

“ At night, when the commissioners sent on board the ship return 
with their retinue to Nagasaki, the cabin is sealed up in their pres¬ 
ence, and all the Dutchmen accurately counted over, to see that 
there be none wanting, which would occasion a very great confu¬ 
sion. During my stay in Japan it happened that a common sailor 
unfortunately was drowned in the night, nobody perceiving his fall¬ 
ing into the water. At the review made the next morning (for it 
is constantly made every morning and night) the fellow was missed. 
This unlucky accident suddenly stopped all proceedings, and the 
fear lest it should be*a Roman Catholic priest, who had made his 
escape into the country, occasioned such a consternation among the 
Japanese, that all the officers ran about, scratching their heads, and 
behaving as if they had lost their senses, and some of the soldiers in 
the guard-ships were already preparing to rip themselves open, 
when at last the unlucky fellow’s body being taken up from the 
bottom of the harbor put an end to their fears. 

“ At all other times, that for lading and unlading our ships 
excepted, the water gates are shut, by which means all communica¬ 
tion is cut off between those that stay on board and those that 
remain on shore. The ship’s cargo having been placed in the ware¬ 
houses, the goods lie there till they are pleased, in two or three 
days of sale, which they call Kambang, to sell them. What re¬ 
mains unsold is carried back to the warehouses, and kept there 
against the next year’s sale. 

“ The following goods are imported by us : raw silk, from China, 
Tonquin, Bengal, and Persia; all sorts of silks, woollen, and other 
stuffs (provided they be not wrought with gold and silver); Brazil 
wood; buffalo, and other hides ; ray skins, wax, and bufialo horns, 
from Siam; tanned hides from Persia, Bengal, and other places. 




DUTCH TRADE. 


245 


but none from Spain and Manilla, under pain of incurring their 
utmost displeasure ; pepper; sugar, in powder and candied; cloves; 
nutmegs; camphor, from Borneo and Sumatra; quicksilver; cin¬ 
nabar ; saffron ; lead ; saltpetre; borax; alum ; musk; gum ben¬ 
zoin ; gum lac; rosmal, or storax liquida ; catechu, commonly called 
Terra Japonica; fustic ; corals; amber; right antimony (which 
they use to color their china ware); looking-glasses, which they cut 
up to make spy-glasses, magnifying glasses, and spectacles, out of 
ihem. Other things of less note are snakewood; mangoes, and 
other unripe East India fruits, pickled with Turkish pepper, garlic, 
ai;d vinegar; black lead and red pencils; sublimate of mercury (but 
no calomel); fine files; needles; spectacles; large drinking-glasses 
of the finest sort; counterfeit corals; strange birds, and other 
foreign curiosities, both natural and artificial. Some of these are 
often sold in private, by sailors and others, without being produced 
upon the Kamhang^ and in this case the Dutch make no scruple to 
get as much for them beyond their real value as possibly they can. 

“Of all the imported goods, raw silk is the best .liked, though it 
yields the least profit of any. All sorts of stufi’s and cloths yield a 
considerable and sure profit, and should there be never so much 
imported, the consumption in so populous a country would be still 
greater. Brazil wood and hides are also to be disposed of to very 
good advantage. The most profitable commodities are sugar, 
catechu, storax liquida, camphor of Borneo (which they covet above 
ail other sorts), looking-glasses, &c., but only when they have occa¬ 
sion for them, and when the Chinese have imported in small quan¬ 
tities. Corals and amber are two of the most valuable commodities 
in these eastern parts; but Japan hath been so thoroughly provided 
by smugglers, that at present there is scarce fifty per cent, to be 
got upon them, whereas formerly we could sell them, ten, nay, a 
hundred times dearer. The price of these things, and of all natural 
and artificial curiosities, varies very much, according to the number 
and disposition of the buyers, who may be sure to get cent per cent, 
clear profit by them, at what price soever they buy them.” 

“ The yearly sum to the value of which the Dutch are permitted 
to sell goods imported by them is, by Japanese reckoning, three 
hundred chests of silver, each of a thousand taels, or in gold fifty 
thousand kobangs; the highest value of the kobang, as current in 
21 # 




246 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1C90. 


Japan, being sixty mas, or six taels. But the Japanese having 
obliged the Dutch East India Company to accept payment in gold 
kobangs, each reckoned at sixty-eight mas, the sales of the Com¬ 
pany, though made to the amount of three hundred thousand taels 
in silver, produced only forty-four thousand one hundred and 
eighteen kobangs.” 

A chance was thus afforded, as Kampfer expresses it, “ to make 
the officers concerned in carrying on the Dutch trade some amends 
for their trouble and hard usage, by allowing them to dispose of 
goods on their own private account,” to the value of five thousand 
six hundred and eighty-two kobangs, equivalent, at the reckoning 
of fifty-eight mas, to forty thousand taels, thus making up the fifty 
thousand kobangs, to the amount of which the annual sale of Dutch 
goods was limited ; and as this arrangement for private trade had 
been made by the Japanese, the East India Company did not ven¬ 
ture to interfere with it. 

At the head of these officers stands the Director, or, as he is called 
by the Japanese, Captain of the 'D\xiQ\\ {Capitan Hollanda)^ who 
has the command, inspection, and care of the trade. The same 
person is the head of the embassy sent to court once every year; 
and, according to the custom of the country, he must be relieved 
after the year is expired. The ships from Batavia bring over his 
successor, with some few merchants and clerks, to assist during the 
sale, after which, the old director goes on board, to return to Bata¬ 
via. The privilege of private trade was, in Kiimpfer’s time, divided 
as follows : The acting director could sell to the extent of ten thou¬ 
sand taels; the new director to the extent of seven thousand; his 
deputy, or the next person after him, to the extent of six thousand. 
The captains of the ships, the merchants, clerks, &c., shared the 
remainder, as they happened to be in favor with the chief managers, 
and the Japanese interpreters. 

“ The day of ihoi Kambang (as they call our sale), which must 
be determined by the court, drawing near, a list of all the goods is 
hung up at the gates without our island, written in very large 
characters, that everybody may read it at a due distance. Mean¬ 
while, the government signifies to the several Ottonas of the town, 
and these to the merchants, who are come thither from diverse parts 
of the empire, what duty per cent, will be laid for the benefit of 



KAMBANG OR PUBLIC SALE. 


247 


the inhabitants of Nagasaki, upon each description of our goods, in 
order to enable them to determine what price they can afford to 
ofler. The day before the Kavihang^ papers are put up at all the 
gates of the streets, to invite the merchants to make their appear¬ 
ance the next morning at Desima, where, for their further informa¬ 
tion, they find before every house a list of the goods laid up in it. 
As the direction of our trade is entirely in the hands of the govern¬ 
ment of Nagasaki, so, particularly, the Kamhaug cannot be held 
but in presence of two stewards of the governors, authorized by 
them to assist at it. The chief officers of our island must likewise 
be present.- The first interpreter presides, and directs everything, 
while our own triumvirs — I mean the two directors, the old and 
new — and the deputy director, have little or nothing to say. 

“ All persons who must be present at the sale having met together, 
our directors order samples of all our goods to be exposed to view, 
and then give a signal with a gum-gum^ a sort of flat bell, not 
unlike a basin, for the merchants to come in. The house where 
the sale is kept is a very neat building, built at the Company’s 
expense, and is then, by removing the shutters, laid open towards 
the street for people to look in. There is a small gallery round it, 
and it is divided within into several partitions, very commodiously 
contrived for this act. 

“ The sale itself is performed in the following manner. Only 
one sort of goods is put up at a time. Those who have a mind 
to buy them give in some tickets, each signed by feigned names, 
and signifying how much they intend to give for a piece, or a 
katti, of the article on sale. I took notice that every merchant 
gives in several tickets. This is done in order to see how matters 
are like to go, and to keep to a less price in case he repents 
of the greater, for which purpose they are signed only by feigned 
names; and, because of the great number and subdivision of the 
small coin, it seldom happens that two tickets exactly agree. 
After all the bidders have given in their tickets, our directors 
proceed to open and assort them. They are then delivered to 
the presiding chief interpreter, who reads them aloud, one after 
another, beginning with the highest. He asks after the bidder 
three times, and, if there is no answer made, he lays that ticket 
aside and takes the next to it. So he goes on, taking always a 



248 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1690. 


less, till the bidder cries out, Here 1 am, and then draws near to 
sign the note, and to put his true name to it with black ink, which 
the Japanese always carry about them. The goods first put up 
being sold, they proceed to others, which they sell in the same 
manner; and so they go on till the sum determined by the emperor 
hath been raised, which is commonly done in two or three, seldom 
in four, days of sale. The day after each Kambayig the goods 
are delivered to the buyer, and carried off. A company of mer¬ 
chants of the five imperial cities have obtained the mono])oly for 
buying and selling raw silks, of which they would fain oblige us to 
make up at least one third of our cargoes. 

“ The duty or custom levied upon goods has been introduced at 
Nagasaki, merely with an intent to take otf part of the vast profits 
which foreigners get upon their commodities, and to assign them 
for the use and maintenance of the poorer inhabitants of the town, 
among whom it is distributed in proportion to the trouble they must 
be at, on account of the public offices they must serve by turns. 
They commonly receive in this distribution from three to fifteen 
taels each. The duty laid upon the goods belonging to the Coni- 
panj" is fifteen per cent., producing forty-five thousand taels. The 
goods belonging to private persons, which are commonly sold at the 
end of the Kambamj, pay much more — no less than sixty-five per 
cent, upon goods sold by the piece, and sixty-seven per cent, on 
goods sold by weight. Rating each sort at half the whole amount, 
and the whole produce is twenty-seven thousand taels. The reason 
they give for the difference in the rate of duty is, because private 
goods are brought over in the Company’s ships, at the Company’s 
expense, and, consequently, deserve less profit. The Chinese, for the 
like reason,—that is, because they are not at the expense of such lomr 
and hazardous voyages as the Dutch, but are nearer at hand, — pay 
a duty of sixty per cent, for all their goods, which brings in a sum of 
three hundred and sixty thousand taels duty. If to this be added the 
yearly rent for our houses and factories, which is five thousand five 
hundred and eighty taels, and that of the Chinese factory, which is 
sixteen thousand taels, it makes up in all a sum of four hundred 
and fifty-three thousand five hundred and eighty taels [upwards of 
half a million of dollars], w’hich the foreign commerce produces 
annually to the magistrates and inhabitants of Nagasaki. 




PllOFITS OF THE DUTCH TRADE. 


249 


“ The profits our goods produce may be computed to amount, 
one year with another, to sixty per cent., though, if all the charges 
and expenses of our sj^le be taken into consideration, we cannot 
well get above forty or forty-five per cent, clear gain. Considering 
so small a profit, it would scarcely be worth the- Company’s while 
to continue this branch of our trade any longer, were it not that 
the goods we export from thence, and particularly the refined cop¬ 
per, yield much the same profit, so that the whole profit may be 
computed to amount to eighty or ninety per cent. 

“ The goods belonging to private persons being brought over 
and sold without any expense to the owner, the gain therefrom, not¬ 
withstanding the great duty laid upon them, is no ways inferior to 
that of the Company. The two chief directors have the greater 
share of it. They cannot hold their offices longer than three years, 
and that not successively, being obliged, after they have served one 
year, to return mth the homeward-bound ships to Batavia, whence 
they are sent back again, either by the next ships, or two years 
after. If the directors stand upon good terms with the chief inter¬ 
preter, and have found ways and means to secure his favor, by 
making him large presents at the Company’s expense, he can con¬ 
trive things so that some of their goods be put up and sold upon 
the first or second Kambang, among the Company’s goods, and so, 
by reason of the small duty, produce sixty-five to seventy per cent, 
profit. This, too, may be done without any prejudice to the Com¬ 
pany; for, in casting up the sums paid in for goods, these articles 
are slipped over. If they have any goods beyond the amount they 
are legally entitled to, chiefly red coral, amber, and the like, it is 
an easy matter to dispose of them in private, by the assistance of 
the officers of the island, who will generally themselves take them 
off their hands. The Ottona himself is very often concerned in 
such bargains, they being very advantageous. Formerly, we could 
sell them by a deputy to the persons who came over to our island 
at the time of our Kamba7ig, and that way was far the most profit¬ 
able for us. But one of our directors, in 1686, played his cards 
so awkwardly that ten Japanese were beheaded for smuggling, and 
he himself banished the country forever. 

“ The residing director, who goes also as ambassador to the em¬ 
peror’s court, hath, besides, another very considerable advantage, 



250 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690. 


in that such presents as the governors of Nagasaki desire to be 
made to the emperor, not to be found in the Company’s warehouses, 
and therefore to be bought, can be furnished by him out of his own 
stock, if it so happens that he hath them, in which case he takes all 
'ihe profit to himself, without doing any prejudice to the Company. 
May, they might possibly go still further in pursuit of their own pri- 
\rate advantages, were it not that they endeavor to pass for men of 
conscience and honor, or, at least, aim to appear fearful lest they 
should be thought too notoriously to injure both the confidence and 
interest of their masters. I do not pretend hereby to charge them 
with any indirect practices as to the annual expenses, though per¬ 
haps even those are sometimes run up to,an unnecessary height; 
nor is it in the least my intention to detract from the reputation 
and character of probity of so many worthy gentlemen, who have 
filled this station with honor, and discharged their duty with the 
utmost faithfulness to their masters. Thus much I can say without 
exaggeration, that the directorship of the Dutch trade in Japan is 
a place which the possessor would not easily part with for thirty 
thousand guilders (twelve thousand dollars). ’T is true, it would 
be a great disadvantage to the director, and considerably lessen his 
profits, if he hath not a good cash in hand to provide himself, before 
his departure from Batavia, with a sufiicient stock of goods, but 
must take them upon credit, and upon his return share the profits 
with his creditors. Besides, he must not presume to leave Batavia, 
much less to return thither, without valuable considerations to his 
benefactors, unless he intends to be excused for the future the honor 
of any such employment. The goods he brings back to Batavia 
are silk gowns, which he receives as presents from the emperor and 
his ministers, and whereof he makes presents again to his friends 
and patrons, victuals, china ware, lackered or japanned things, and 
other manufactures of the country, which he can dispose of at Batavia 
at fifty per cent, profit; and besides some kobangs in gold; though 
if he have any left it is much more profitable to buy ambergris,* or 

* Ambergris is a substance thrown up from the stomachs of whales suffer¬ 
ing from dyspepsia or some other disease. It is much employed in the East 
in the preparation of perfumes and sweetmeats, and once had considerable 
reputation in Europe. Its true nature was for a long time in dispute. The 
Japanese understood it, as appears from their name of the article, Kusera^ 
no~fung ; that is, whale’s excrements. 




DUTCH RETURN CARGOES. 


251 


refined copper, and to send the latter, if possible, on board the Com¬ 
pany’s ships to Malacca. I say if possible, because there are strict 
orders from the Company against it. 

“But it is time at last to send our ships on their return. To 
make up their cargoes we buy from twelve thousand .to twenty 
thousand piculs of refined copper, cast in small cylinders, a span 
long and an inch thick, each picul packed in a fir box. We buy, 
likewise, a small quantity of coarse copper, delivered to us in broad 
flattish round cakes, and sometimes we take in some hundred piculs 
or chests of copper kasies or farthings, but not unless they be asked 
for at Tonquin and other places. All the copper is sold to us by a 
company of united merchants, who, by virtue of a privilege from the 
emperor, have the sole refining and selling of it to foreigners. 

“ The other part of our cargo is made up of Japanese camphor, 
from six thousand to twelve thousand, and sometimes more, pounds a 
year, packed up in wooden barrels; of some hundred bales of china 
ware packed in straw; of a box or two of gold thread, of an hundred 
rolls to the box; of all sorts of japanned cabinet-boxes, chests of 
drawers, and the like, all of the very best workmanship we can 
meet with; of umbrellas, screens and several other manufactures, 
made of canes, wood, buffalo and other horns, hard skins of fishes, 
which they work with uncommon neatness and dexterity, stone, cop¬ 
per, gold and Sowas, which is an artificial metal, composed of 
copper, silver and gold, and esteemed at least equal in value to sil¬ 
ver. To these may be added paper made transparent with oil and 
varnish; paper printed and colored with false gold and silver for 
hanging of rooms; rice, the best to be had in Asia; saki, a strong 
liquor brewed from rice; soy, a sort of pickle, fit to be eat at table 
with roasted meat; pickled fruits packed in barrels; indented 
tobacco; tea, and marmalades; besides some thousand kobangs 
of gold in specie. The exportation of the following articles 
is strictly forbidden. All prints, pictures, goods or stuffs, bearing 
the emperor’s coat-of-arms. Pictures and representations, printed 
and others, of soldiers and military people, of any person belong¬ 
ing to the court of the Dairi, or of Japanese ships; maps of 
the empire or any part of it; plans of towns, castles, temples and 
the like; all sorts of silk, cotton and hempen stuffs; all sorts of 



252 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1C90. 


arms, including those made in Japan after European patterns; car¬ 
penter’s knives; silver. 

“ Our ships cannot be laden, nor set sail, till special leave has 
been given, and the day of their departure determined by the court. 
When they are laden, all our private goods and what else we have 
to bring on board, must be again narrowly searched. For this 
purpose, two of our landlords, two apprentices of the interpreters, 
and two clerks, with some kulis, or workmen, about two or three 
days before the departure of the ships, call upon every one in his 
room, as well those who stay at Desima as those who are to return, 
and who, during the time of sale, have been lodged in our empty 
houses. These people visit every corner, and examine all our 
things piece by piece, taking an exact memorandum of what they 
find; then they bind them together with straw ropes, and put their 
seals to them, along with a list of what the parcel contains, for the 
information of the gate-guard, who would else open them again. 
All contraband goods are seized at this search. Should any of 
these be found upon any Dutchman, the possessor would be at 
least banished the country for life, and the interpreters and serv¬ 
ants appointed for his service and all other suspected persons would 
be put to the rack, till the seller and all his accomplices were dis¬ 
covered, by whose blood only is such a crime to be expiated. Of 
this we had a late instance in the imperial steward’s own secretary, 
who, having endeavored to send over some cimeter blades to China, 
was executed for it, with his only son, not above eight years old. 
Upon my own departure, although my things, for good reasons, 
were visited but slightly, and over a bottle, yet they seized upon an 
old Japanese razor and a few other things, just because they hap¬ 
pened to see them. 

“ The day determined for the departure of our ships drawing 
near, they proceed to lade their cargoes one after another. Last 
of all, the arms and powder are brought on board, followed by the 
ship’s company, who must again pass in review according to the 
list which was given in upon the ship’s arrival. The ship being 
ready, she must weigh her anchors that instant and retire two 
leagues off the town towards the entrance of the harbor, where she 
rides till the other ships are laden in the same manner. When all 
the homeward-bound ships are joined, they proceed on their voyage, 



DEPARTURE OF THE DUTCH SHIPS. 


253 


and, after they have gotten to the main sea, to a pretty considerable 
distance from the harbor, the Japanese ship-guard, which never 
quitted them from their first arrival till then, leave them and 
return home. If the wind proves contrary to the ships’ going out, 
a good number of Japanese rowing boats, fastened to a rope, tow 
them out by force one after another. For the emperor’s orders 
must be executed in spite of wind and weather, should even after¬ 
wards all the ships run the hazard of being wrecked. 

“All these several strict orders and regulations of the Japanese 
have been made chiefly with an intent to prevent smuggling. The 
penalty put upon this crime is death without hope of reprieve; but 
it extends only to the person convicted and his accomplices, and not 
to their families, as the punishment of some other crimes does. And 
yet the Japanese are so addicted to it, that, according to computa¬ 
tion, no less than three hundred persons have been executed in six 
or seven years’ time for smuggling with the Chinese, whose depart¬ 
ing junks they follow to the main sea, and buy of them at a low 
price what goods they could not dispose of at their sale at Naga¬ 
saki. But these unhappy wretches are almost as frequently caught 
by the Japanese boats particularly appointed for that purpose, and 
delivered up to justice at Nagasaki, which constantly proves severe 
and unmerciful enough.” 

Not long after Kiimpfer’s arrival in Japan, eleven smugglers 
were caught in one boat, and brought to Nagasaki, where they 
were executed a few days after. On the 28th of Dec., 1691, 
twenty-three persons suffered death for smuggling, ten of whom 
were beheaded, and the others crucified. Among the latter were 
five who, upon being taken, made away with themselves, to avoid 
the shame of an unavoidable public execution; but their bodies 
were nevertheless preserved in salt, on purpose to be afterwards 
fixed to the cross. During Kampfer’s stay in Japan, which was 
not above two years, upwards of fifty smugglers lost their lives. 

“ Though there are not many instances of people executed for 
smuggling with the Dutch, yet such a case occurred in 1791, 
when,” says Kampfer, “ two Japanese were executed on our island 
for having smuggled from a Dutchman one pound of camphor of 
Borneo, which was found upon the buyer just as he endeavored to 
carry it off from our island. Early in the morning on the day 
22 




254 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1G90. 


of execution the acting governor of Nagasaki sent notice by the 
Ottona to our director to keep himself with the rest of the Dutch¬ 
men in readiness to see the criminals executed. About an hour 
after came over the numerous flocks of our interpreters, landlords, 
cooks and all the train of Desima, with the sherifis and other offi¬ 
cers of justice, in all to the number of at least two hundred people. 
Before the company was carried a pike with a tablet, whereupon 
the crime for which the criminals were to suffer was specified in 
larse characters. Then followed the two criminals, surrounded with 
bailiffs. The first was the buyer, a young man of twenty-three 
years of age, very meanly clad, upon whom the camphor was found. 
The second was a well-looking man, and well clad, about forty years 
of age, who suffered only for having lent the other, formerly a serv¬ 
ant of his, the money to buy it with. 

“ One of the bailiffs carried an instrument upright, formed like a 
rake, but with iron hooks instead of teeth, proper to be made use of 
if any of the malefactors should attempt to make his escape, because 
it easily catches hold of one’s clothes. Another carried another 
instrument proper to cut, to stab and to pin one fast to a wall. 
Then followed two officers of the governor’s court, with their reti¬ 
nues, as commissioners to preside at this act, and at some distance 
came two clerks. In this order they marched across our island to 
the place designed for this execution. 

“ We Dutchmen, only seven in number (our ship being already 
gone), resolved not to come near. But our director advised us to 
go, as he had heard that on our refusal we would be compelled by 
force. I followed this advice, and went without delay to see the 
execution done. I found the two criminals in the middle of the 
place, one behind the other, kneeling, their shoulders uncovered, 
and their hands tied to their backs. Each had his executioner 
standing by him, the one a tanner (for tanners in this country do 
the office of executioners), the other his best friend and comrade, 
whom he earnestly desired, as the custom is in this country, by 
doing him this piece of service, to confirm the friendshijj he had 
always had for him. At about twenty paces from the criminals 
sat the two commissioners upon one bench, and the two clerks upon 
another. A third was left empty for our director, who, however, 
did not appear. The rest of the people stood promiscuously where 




EXECUTION OF SMUGGLERS. 


255 


they pleased. I myself crowded with my Japanese servant as near 
one of the malefactors as possibly we could. While they were 
waiting for the rest of the Dutchmen I overheard a very extraordi¬ 
nary discourse between the two criminals; for as the elderly man 
was grumbling between his teeth his Quanwonjo, or short prayer 
to the hundred-hand idol Quanwon, the other, to whom I stood 
nearest, rebuked him for it. ‘ Fy! ’ said he. ‘ For shame, to appear 
thus frightened out of your wits! ’ ‘ Ah, ah ! ’ says the other, ‘ I 

only pray a little.’ ‘ You have had time enough to pray,’ replied 
the first; ‘ it serves no purpose now, but to expose yourself and to 
show the Dutch what a coward you are ! ’ and this discourse so 
wrought upon the other that he actually left off praying. 

“ The minute that the Dutch were all assembled at the place of 
execution, a signal was given, and that instant both executioners 
cut off each his criminal’s head, with a short cimeter, in such a 
manner that their bodies fell forward to the ground. The bodies 
were wrapped up, each in a coarse rush mat, and both their heads 
together in a third, and so carried away from Desima to the ordi¬ 
nary place of execution, a field not far from Nagasaki, where, it was 
said, young people tried their strength and the sharpness of their 
cimeters upon the dead bodies, by hacking them into small pieces. 
Both heads were fixed upon a pole, according to custom, and 
exposed to view for seven days. The execution being over, the 
company marched off from Desima without any order. Our 
director went to meet the two commissioners and afterwards 
the two clerks upon the street, as they were returning home, 
thanked them for the trouble they had been at on this occasion, 
and invited them to his house to smoke a pipe; but he had nothin«■ 
in return for this kind invitation but a sharp reprimand, with an 
admonition to take care of his people, that no more such accidents 
should happen for the future. This was the first time criminal 
blood was shed upon our island.” 

The proceedings at the Chinese sales, and the articles imported 
and exported by them, were, according to Kampfer, much the same 
as in the case of the Dutch, except that they were not allowed to 
take away any money, but merchandise only. - 




CHAPTER- XXIX. 


NAGASAKI AND ITS VICINITY AS SEEN BY KAMPFER.—IMPERIAL GOVERN¬ 
ORS.-THEIR OFFICERS AND PALACES.-MUNICIPAL SYSTEM.-STREET 

GOVERNMENT.-MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY.-ADMINISTRATION OP JUSTICE. 

-TAXES.-GOVERNMENT OF OTHER TOWNS.-ADJACENT COUNTRY.-THE 

GOD SUWA AND HIS MATSURI. —A. D. 1690—1692. 

Kampfer describes Nagasaki as situated upon an indifferent and 
barren soil, amid rocks and steep hills or mountains. The harbor, 
which has its head at the north of the city, where it is narrow and 
shallow with a sandy bottom, soon grows broader and deeper. 
When about half a mile broad and five or six fathoms deep, it turns 
to the south-west, and so runs on between high land and mountains 
for about a mile (narrowing again to a quarter of a mile in 
breadth), till it reaches an island or rather mountain surrounded by 
water, which the Dutch call FapeTihurg. This, properly speaking, 
is the entrance of the harbor, and here vessels lie at anchor to 
watch a favorable opportunity of getting out, which would be 
easily done in two hours were it not for the many banks, shoals 
and cliffs, which make the passage equally difiicult and dangerous. 

“ There are seldom less than fifty Japanese ships in this harbor, 
besides some hundred fishing-vessels and small boats. Of foreign 
ships there are seldom, some few months of the winter excepted, 
less than thirty, most of which are Chinese junks. The Dutch 
ships never stay longer than three months in autumn ; very seldom 
so long. The anchorage is about a musket-shot from the town, 
where ships ride at anchor upon the soft clay, with about six 
fathom at high tide, and four and a half at low water. 

“ The town — situated where the harbor is«broadest, and where, 
from the change in its direction, it forms a nearly semi-circular shore 
— has the shape of a half-moon, somewhat inclining to a triangle. 


NAGASAKI. 


25T 


Built along the shore in a narrow valley, formed by the opening of 
the neighboring mountains, it is about three quarters of a mile long 
and nearly as broad, the chief and broadest street running nearly 
that distance up the valley. The mountains which encompass it 
are not very high, but steep, green to their tops, and of a very 
agreeable aspect. Just behind the city, in going up the mountains, 
are many stately temples, beautifully adorned with fine gardens and 
terrace-walks. Higher up are innumerable burying-places. In the 
distance appear other high mountains, fruitful and well cultivated. 
In short, the whole situation affords to the eye a most delicious and 
romantic view.” * 

The town is open, as are most other towns in Japan, without 
either castle, walls or fortifications. Some bastions are built along 
the harbor, as it were for defence, but they have no cannon. About 
two miles from the town, seaward, just beyond the anchorage, are 
two guard-houses, opposite each other, and enclosed by palisades. 
They are held each by about seven hundred men, including those 
who do duty in the harbor guard-boats. 

“Three fresh-water rivers come down from the neighboring 
mountains, and run through the town. For the greater part of 
the year they have scarce water enough to irrigate some rice-fields 
and to drive a few mills, though in rainy weather they are apt to 
increase so as to wash away whole houses. They are crossed by 
thirty-five bridges, great and small, twenty of stone and fifteen of 
wood, very simple in their structure, being made more for strength 
than show. 

“The city is divided into two parts. Utrimatz (the inner 
town) consists of twenty-six Tsju^ or streets, all very irregular, as 
if built in the infancy of the city; Sotomatz (or the outer town) 
contains sixty-one streets, so that there are eighty-seven in all. 

“ The streets of Nagasaki and other towns in Japan have borrowed 
their name, Tsju, from that of a Japanese measure of sixty fathoms 
(three hundred and sixty feet); but, though generally short, they 
are not all precisely of that length. These streets, or divisions of 
streets, seldom containing more than sixty or less than thirty 

* This corresponds with Siebold’s description, who goes quite into rap¬ 
tures at the first sight he had, in 1825, of the hills about Nagasaki. 

22 * 




258 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


houses, have gates at each end, which are always closed at night, 
and often in the day, when there is the least occasion for it. The 
streets of Nagasaki are neither straight nor broad, but crooked, 
dirty and narrow, leading some up and others down hill, on account 
of the irregularity of the ground upon which the town is built. 
Some of the steepest have stair-cases of stone. They are full stocked 
with inhabitants, as many as ever they will hold. 

“ The houses of the common people are mean, sorry buildings, 
small and low, seldom above one story high. If there be two 
stories, the uppermost is so low that it scarce deserves the name. 
The roof is covered with shavings of fir wood [shingles ?] fastened 
by other pieces of wood laid across. Indeed, the whole structure is 
of wood, as are most buildings throughout the empire. The walls 
within are wainscoted and hung with painted and variously-colored 
paper.* The floor is covered with mats wove of a considerable 
thickness, which they take care to keep exceedingly clean and 
neat. The rooms are separated from each other by movable 
paper screens. Seats and chairs they have none, and only some 
few household goods, chiefly such as are absolutely necessary for 
daily use in the kitchen and at meals. Behind every house is a 
back yard, which, though never so small, yet contains always some 
curious and beautiful plants, kept with a great deal of care. 

“ The houses of eminent merchants, and of other rich people, are 
of a far better structure, commonly two stories high, and built 
after the Chinese manner, with a large court-yard before them and 
a garden behind. 

“ The palaces of the two resident governors take in a large spot 
of ground, standing something higher than the rest of the town. 
The buildings are very neat and handsome, and all uniform; strong 
gates and well guarded lead into the court about which they are 
arranged. 

“ Besides the governors’ palaces there are some twenty other 
houses in Nagasaki belonging to the principal nobility of the island 
of Kiusiu, always occupied by some of their vassals, who take care 
of them, and in which the owners lodge when they come to town. 

* It would seem that Europe had derived the idea of paper-hangings, as a 
substitute for tapestry, from Japan. 



NAGASAKI. 


259 


“ The handsomest buildings belonging to townspeople are two 
streets all occupied by courtesans. The girls in these establish¬ 
ments, which abound throughout Japan, are purchased of their 
parents when very young. The price varies in proportion to their 
beauty and the number of years agreed for, which is, generally 
speaking, ten or twenty, more or less. They are very commodi- 
ously lodged in handsome apartments, and great care is taken to 
teach them to dance, sing, play upon musical instruments, to write 
letters, and in all other respects to make them as agreeable as pos¬ 
sible. The older ones instruct the young ones, and these in their 
turn serve the older ones as their waiting-maids. Those who make 
considerable improvement, and for their beauty and agreeable 
behavior are oftener sent for, to the great advantage of their 
masters, are also better accommodated in clothes and lodging, all at 
the expense of their lovers, who must pay so much the dearer for 
their favors. The price paid to their landlord or master is from 
one mas to two itzuho (twelve and a half cents to four dollars), for 
a night, beyond which they are forbid to ask under severe penal¬ 
ties. One of the sorriest must watch the house over night in a 
small room near the door, free to all comers upon the payment of 
one mas. Others are sentenced to keep the watch by way of pun¬ 
ishment for their misbehavior. 

“ After having served their time, if they are married, they pass 
among the common people for honest women, the guilt of their 
past lives being by no means laid to their charge, but to that of 
their parents and relations who sold them in their infancy for so 
scandalous a way of getting a livelihood, before they were able to 
choose a more honest one. Besides, as they are generally well 
bred, that makes it less difficult for them to get husbands. The 
keepers of these houses, on the contrary, though possessed of never 
so plentiful estates, are forever denied admittance into honest com¬ 
pany.” 

Kiimpfer enumerates of public buildings three large wooden ship- 
houses, in which are kept three imperial junks or men-of-war, 
equipped and ready for launching; a powder-magazine on a hill 
opposite the town, and a city prison. There are also sixty-two 
temples, within and without the town — five for the worship of the 
Kami, or ancient national gods of Japan, seven of the Jamabos, 




260 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1G90—1692. 


or mountain priests, and fifty Tiras, temples of four different 
Euddhist sects or observances, including the three temples erected 
by the Chinese, as mentioned in a previous chapter. 

“ These temples are sacred not only to devotion and worship, 
but serve also for recreation and diversion, being for this purpose 
curiously adorned with pleasant gardens, elegant walks, and fine 
apartments, and by much the best buildings of the town. The 
Buddhist temples are not so much to be commended for their large¬ 
ness or splendor as for their pleasant and agreeable situations, being 
moreover adorned within with fine raised altars, gilt images as big 
as life, lackered columns, gates and pillars, the whole very neat 
and pretty rather than magnificent. 

“ Those who attend the service of the Kami temples, though not 
collected into monasteries, like the Buddhist clergy, but secular 
and married persons, yet assume to themselves a far higher degree 
of holiness and respect than they think the common bulk of secular 
persons deserve. They live with their families in houses built for 
them in the descent of the mountains. Their way of life, as well 
as their common dress at home and abroad, is no ways different 
from that of the other inhabitants, except that they do not shave 
their heads, but let their hair grow, and tie it together behind. 
When they go to the temple they dress in an ecclesiastical habit, 
with various head-dresses, according to every one’s office and qual¬ 
ity. They maintain themselves by the alms and offerings given 
them by those who come to worship in their temples, or at their 
appearance in solemn processions. 

“ The ecclesiastics of the Buddhist religion have no processions 
nor other public solemnities, like the Sinto clergy. They always 
keep within the district of their convent, where they mind little 
else but their prayers in the temple at certain stated hours. Their 
maintenance arises from the fees given them for prayers to be said 
in their temples, or at funerals for the relief of departed souls, as 
also from voluntary and charitable contributions.” 

The gardens in and about the city and the neighboring villages 
abundantly furnish it with all sorts of fruits, vegetables and roots, 
with firewood, and also with some venison and poultry; but the 
domestic supply of rice is insufficient, and that capital article has to 
be imported from the neighboring provinces. The harbor and 




NAGASAKI. 


261 


neighboring coast yield plenty of fish and crabs. The rivers that 
run through the town provide it with clear and sweet water, “ very 
fit,” says Kiimpfer, “for daily drink;” the sdki^ or rice beer, as it 
is brewed in Japan, being too strong, and that in particular made 
at Nagasaki of a disagreeable taste.” * 

Except articles made of gold, silver and Sawaas, — a mixture of 
gold, silver and copper, — for the foreign trade, manufactures at 
Nagasaki are not so good as in other parts of the empire; and yet 
everything is sold dearer, chiefly to foreigners. 

The inhabitants are mostly merchants, shop-keepers, tradesmen, 
handicraftsmen, artificers, brewers, besides the numerous retinue of 
the governors, and the people employed in the Dutch and Chinese 
trade, by which, in fact, the town is mainly supported. There are 
many poor people and beggars, most of them religious mendicants. 

“ The town,” says Kiimpfer, “ is never without a great deal of 
noise. In the day, victuals and other merchandise are cried up and 
down the streets. Day-laborers and the seamen in the harbor 
encourage one another to work with a certain sound. In the night 
the watchmen and soldiers upon duty, both in the streets and har¬ 
bor, show their vigilance, and at the same time indicate the hours 
of the night, by beating two pieces of wood against each other. The 
Chinese contribute their share chiefly in the evening, when they 
burn some pieces of gilt paper, and throw them into the sea, as an 
offering to their idol, or when they carry their idol about its temple; 
both which they do with beating of drums and cymbals. But all 
this is little compared with the clamor and bawling of the priests 
and the relations of dying or dead persons, who, either in the house 
where the corpse lies, or else upon certain days sacred to the 
deceased’s memory, sing a Nimada, that is, a prayer, to their god 

* According to Haganaar this saki is flavored with honey or sugar. It is 
very heating and heavy. Saris describes it as almost as strong as aqua 
vitae. It appears to be very various in quality and strength, quite as much 
so as European ale or beer. The yeast from this saki is largely used for 
preserving fruit and vegetables. The acid of it penetrates the fruit or vege¬ 
table, giving it a peculiar flavor, of which the Japanese are very fond. 

The Japanese are very fond of social drinking parties ; but, according to 
Caron, no drunken brawls occur, each person taking himself quietly off as 
soon as he finds that he has enough or too much. 




262 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1690—1692. 


Amida,* with a loud voice, for the relief of his soul. The like is 
done by certain fraternities or societies of devout neighbors, friends 
or relations, who meet by turns in their houses, every day, in the 
morning or evening, in order to sing the Nimada byway of precau¬ 
tion for the future relief of their own souls. 

Nagasaki, down to the year 1688, had, like the other imperial 
cities, two governors, commanding by turns; the one not in the im¬ 
mediate exercise of authority being resident meanwhile at Jedo. 
In 1688, the policy was adopted of having three governors ; two to 
be always resident at Nagasaki, to watch each other, and presiding 
alternately for two months, while the third was to come in each 
alternate year from Jedo to relieve the senior resident.! The resi¬ 
dent governors leave their families at Jedo as hostages for their good 
behavior, and, during the time of their absence from court, are 
strictly prohibited, so it is stated, to admit any woman within their 
palaces. The establishments of these imperial governors, as 
described by Kiimpfer, may probably be taken as a specimen of 
the ordinary way of life with the higher order of Japanese 
officials. Their salary did not exceed fifteen hundred or two thou¬ 
sand kokf of rice (in money, the price of the article being very va¬ 
riable, from seven thousand to ten thousand taels) ; but the per¬ 
quisites were so considerable that in a few years they might get 
vast estates, did not the presents which must be made to the em¬ 
peror and the grandees of the court consume the greater part of 
their profits. Out of their allowance they were obliged to maintain 
an extensive retinue, — two Karoo, or stewards of the household, 
ten Joriki, all noblemen of good families, who acted both as civil 
and military officers, and thirty Doosiu, likewise military and civil 
officers, but of inferior rank. 

The business of the Joriki was to assist the governor with their 
advice, if required, and to execute his commands, either as military 
officers or as magistrates. They had, besides their food and a new 

* This prayer, or invocation, unintelligible to the Japanese, is, as our 
modern Orientalists have discovered, good Sanscrit. 

t Another change, simultaneous with the restrictions upon Dutch and 
Chinese trade, was the selection of the governors from the military and 
noble class, instead of from the mercantile class, as had previously been the 
case. 




GOVERNORS OE NAGASAKI. 


263 


suit annually, an allowance of one hundred taels a year; but this 
hardly sufficed to enable them to keep the servants necessary to 
their dignity, such as a pike-bearer, a keeper of their great sword, 
and a shoe or slipper bearer, and much less to maintain a family. 
The Doosiu were a sort of assistants to the Joriki. They served as 
guards, and did duty on board ship, especially in the guard-boats, 
either as commanding officers or as privates. Sometimes they did 
the office of bailifis or constables, and put people under arrest, for 
which purpose they always carried a halter about them. Their 
yearly allowance, beside their board, did not exceed fifty tael, out 
of which they must maintain each a servant.^ 

The governors had still other domestics, of inferior rank, to dress 
and undress them, to introduce visitors, and to bring messages, 
besides numerous menial servants. 

At the entrance of their palaces, within the court-yard, a guard 
was kept of four or five Doosiu. No domestic could leave the house 
without taking from its place in the guard-room a square wooden 
tablet, which he hung up again on his return, so that it could be 
knowm at a glance how many and who were absent. Within the 
great door, or main entrance into the house, another guard was kept 
by some of the Joriki, one of whom had charge of a book, in which 
he entered, as the custom is at the houses of persons of rank, the 
names of all who go in or out, for the information of the master of 
the house, who sometimes at night examines the entries. 

The governor’s equipage and attendance when going abroad con¬ 
sisted of a led horse, a Noriraon, in which he was carried, by the 
side of which walked four of the gentlemen of his bedchamber, and 
behind it two pike-bearers, followed by a train of Karoo, Joriki 
and Doosiu, with their own servants and attendants. 

Kampfer thus describes the persons who held the office of govern¬ 
ors of Nagasaki at his arrival in Japan — ‘•^Kawaguts Tsina-Kami 
is a handsome, well-shaped man, about fifty years of age, cunning 
and malicious, and a great enemy of the Dutch (who ascribed to 

* These Joriki and Doosiu seem to be the same officers spoken of in the 
subsequent Dutch narratives as gobanjosi [said to mean government over¬ 
seeing officers], or by corruption, banjoses, upper and under. The Doosiu 
or Doosen seem to be the same with the imperial soldiers. 



• 264 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1690—1692. 


him the authorship of the new arrangement for their trade), an 
unjust and severe judge, but an agreeable, liberal and happy cour¬ 
tier, with an income from his private estates of four thousand 
seven hundred kokf. Juma Oka Tsussimu-no-Kami had formerly 
been a high constable, and had been rewarded with his present 
office for his services in clearing Jedo of thieves and pickpockets. 
He had a private revenue of two thousand kokf. He is about 
sixty, short, sincere, humble, and very charitable to the poor, but 
with so much of his old profession about him, that he often orders 
his domestics to be put to death without mercy for very trifling 
faults. Mijuki To7io7iomo, also about sixty, is a man of great 
generosity and many good qualities, with a private estate of four 
thousand kokf of yearly revenue.” 

To watch the governors, an imperial officer, called Daiquan, was 
appointed to reside at Nagasaki, and a like service was required of 
all the chief lords of the island of Ximo. 

To secure the harbor and town these same lords were bound to 
march with their vassals at the first alarm. The princes of the 
provinces of Figen and Chichugen were obliged to furnish alter¬ 
nately, each for a year, the guard at the enti’ance of the harbor, 
which was independent of the governors. The inhabitants of the 
water-side streets of Nagasaki supplied the Fundba7i or ship-guard 
with its guard-boats to watch foreign ships in the harbor. There 
was another fleet of boats employed ordinarily in whale-fishing, but 
whose business it also was to see all foreign vessels well off the 
coast, to guard against and to arrest smugglers, and to prevent 
any foreign vessels from touching elsewhere than at Nagasaki, 
Finally, there was the spy-guard, stationed on the top of the 
neighboring mountains, to look out for the approach of foreign ves¬ 
sels ; and on one of these hills was a beacon, which, being fired, 
served, in connection with other similar beacons, to telegraph alarms 
to Jedo. 

Next in rank to the governors were four mayors or burgomas¬ 
ters, whose office, like most others, had become hereditary, and two 
deputy-mayors, principally for the affairs of the new town. They 
would seem to have once been the actual chief magistrates, but 
their authority had been greatly eclipsed by that of the imperial 
governors. There were also four other officers annually appointed to 



STREET GOVERNMENT. 


265 


solicit the interests of the town’s people at the court of the govern¬ 
ors, and to keep them informed of the daily proceedings of the 
mayors, for which purpose they had a small room at the governor’s 
palace, where they were always in waiting. 

There was no town-house nor other public place of' assembly. 
When the magistrates met on business, it was at the presiding 
mayor’s house. Besides the various bodies of interpreters and others, 
connected with the foreign trade, there was a particular corporation 
of constables and bailiffs, consisting of about thirty families, who 
lived in a street by themselves. Their office was reputed military 
and noble, and they had the privilege of wearing two swords, — a 
privilege which the mayors and mercantile people did not possess. 

The tanners, obliged to act also as public executioners, were held 
in execration, yet they also wore twcf swords. They lived in a 
separate village near the place of execution, placed as everywhere 
in Japan at the west end of the town. 

But the most remarkable thing in the municipal government of 
Nagasaki (and the same thing extended to all the other Japanese 
towns) was the system of street government, mentioned in the nar¬ 
ratives of Don Rodrigo, Caron, and others, but which Kiimpfer 
more particularly describes. 

The house-owners of every street were arranged in companies, or 
corporations, of five, or sometimes a few more, each street having 
from ten to fifteen such companies. None but house-owners were 
admitted into these corporations; mere occupants were looked upon 
as dependents on their landlords, with no voice in the affairs of the 
street, nor right to claim any share in the public money, though 
they paid high rents. Each street company had one-of its number 
for a head, who was responsible for the conduct of his four com¬ 
panions, and obliged, in certain cases at least, to share the punish¬ 
ment of their crimes. The members of these corporations chose 
from among themselves an OttoTia, or chief magistrate of the street. 
The choice was by ballot, and the name of the person having the 
greatest number was presented to the governor, with a humble 
petition that he might be appointed to the office, of which the 
salary in Nagasaki was a ten-fold share of the annual distribution 
to the inhabitants, derived from the duties on the foreign trade. 

The duty of the Ottona was, to give the necessary orders in case 

23 



266 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1690—1692. 


of fire; to have the oversight of the watch; to keep a register of 
the deaths, births, marriages, arrivals, departures, &c.; to arrest 
criminals, and to punish those of smaller magnitude; to compose, 
if he could, all disputes among the people of his street; and gener¬ 
ally to be personally answerable for their good behavior. He had 
for assistants three lieutenants, the heads of the corporations of 
house-owners, a secretary, a treasurer and a messenger. A guard 
was kept every night, of three or more house-owners, while the street 
was paced by two sentinels, walking from each gate till they met, 
and then back. The hours were regularly in the daytime struck 
on a bell hung for that purpose on the ascent of the mountains, and 
during the night the street-watch indicated them by beating two 
sticks together.* 

The street officers were held responsible for the offences of the 
house-owners; the house-owners for the ofi’ences of their lodgers, 

* The Japanese division of time is peculiar. The day, from the beginning 
of morning twilight to the end of evening twilight (so saysSiebold, coi'recting 
former statements, which give instead sunrise and sunset), is divided into six 
hours, and the night,, from the beginning to the end of darkness, into six 
other hours. Of course the length of these hours is constantly varying. 
Their names (according to Titsingh) are as follows: Kokonots, noon and 
midnight; Yaats, about our two o’clock ; JVanats, from four to five; Mouts- 
douki, end of the evening and commencement of morning twilight; Itsoiis, 
eight to nine ; Yovts, about ten ; and then Kokonots again. Each of these 
hours is also subdivided into four parts, thus : Kokonots, noon or midnight ; 
Kokonols-fan, quarter past ; Kokonots-fan-souki, half past ; Kokonots-fan- 
souki-maye, three quarters past ; Yaats, commencement of second hour ; 
Yaats-fan, &c., and so through all the hours. 

The hours are struck on bells, Kokonots beipg indicated by nine strokes, 
preceded (as is the case also with all the hours) by three warning strokes, 
to call attention, and to indicate that the hour is to be struck, and followed, 
after a pause of about a minute and a half, by the strokes for the hour, be¬ 
tween which there is an interval of about fifteen seconds — the last, however, 
following its predecessor still more rapidly, to indicate that the hour is 
struck. Yaats is indicated by eight strokes, JVanats by seven, JMouts-douki 
by six, Itsous by five, and Yoots by four. Much speculation has been re¬ 
sorted to by the Japanese to explain why they do not employ, to indicate 
hours, one, two, and three strokes. The obvious answer seems to be, that 
while three strokes have been appropriated as a forewarning, their method of 
indicating that the striking is finished would not be available, if one and 
two strokes designated the first and second hours. 



FIGURE-TREADING. 


26T 


domestics, and families ; masters for servants; children for parents; 
each corporation for its individual members; neighbors for each 
other.* It was naturally a part of this system that no new 
inhabitant was admitted into any street, except by consent of all 
the house-owners in it, which thus became necessary to every pur¬ 
chase and sale of a house. 

Every year, a list was made out by the street officers of all the 
inhabitants in each street, with their religion, shortly after which 
came the ceremony of Jejumi, or figure-treading — that is, tram¬ 
pling upon the crucifix, an image of the Yirgin Mary, and other 
saints — a ceremony which appears to be observed, at least at Na¬ 
gasaki, down even to the present day. The images used in Kiimp- 
fer’s time were about a foot long, cast in brass, and kept in a par¬ 
ticular box for that purpose. The ceremony took place in the pres¬ 
ence of the street officers. Each house was entered by turns, two 
messengers carrying the box. The images were laid upon the bare 
floor, and, the list of the household being called over, they were 
required, one by one, to tread upon them. Young children, not 
yet able to walk, were held in their mothers’ arms, so as to touch 
the images with their feet. It has been asserted that the Dutch 
were obliged to submit to this ceremony ; but the fact was not so. 

To prevent smuggling, whenever the foreign ships or junks set 
sail, the street gates of Nagasaki were shut, and kept closed till the 
ships were out of the harbor, strict searches being made, at uncertain 
times, on which occasions every inhabitant of the street was obliged 
to report himself. The same thing took place when criminals were 
searched for, or other investigations, sometimes very frivolous ones, 
were made. On these and other occasions of alarm, no one could 
go from one street into another, except with a written pass, and 
attended by an officer; nor could an inhabitant of Nagasaki at any 
time leave the city without a similar pass and an undertaking on 
the part of his neighbors for his return within a specified time. 

* Caron implies that it was only as to state offences that this mutual re¬ 
sponsibility exists. According to Guysbert, in his account of the persecution 
at Nagasaki, if a converted priest was discovered, not only the householder 
concealing him was held responsible, but the two nearest householders on 
either side, though not only ignorant of the fact, but pagans. This strict 
system was very effectual for the purposes of the persecution. 





268 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1G90—1692. 


Accused persons were often made to confess by torture. Capital 
punishments were either by beheading or crucifixion. Other pun¬ 
ishments — and this class was often inflicted for the misdemeanors 
of others — were imprisonment, for longer or shorter periods, ban¬ 
ishment to certain desolate spots and islands, and forfeiture of 
property and office. Punishments were prompt and severe; yet 
great regard was had to the nature of the ofience, the condition of 
the person who committed it, and the share of guilt to be reason¬ 
ably laid to the charge of his superiors, relations, or neighbors. 
The practice of making young children suffer with their parents 
was possibly intended as much in mercy to them as to aggravate 
the punishment of the real offenders.* It is by this same motive 
of humanity, that the Japanese justify their practice of exposing 
such infants as they have not the means or inclination to support 
and educate. 

Persons sentenced to death could not be executed without a 
warrant signed by the council of state at Jedo, which must like¬ 
wise be consulted in all affairs of moment, provided they admit of 
the delay necessary to send a courier and receive an answer. This, 
however, did not prevent the governors of Nagasaki, and other high 
officers, from liberally exercising the right of life and death in the 
case of their own immediate servants and retainers. All servants, 
indeed, were so far at the disposal of their masters, that, if they 
were accidentally killed while undergoing punishment, the master 
was not answerable. Yet, in general, as in China, homicide, even in 
self-defence or midesigned, must be expiated by the blood of the 
offender, and even his neighbors were, in many cases, held to a 
certain extent responsible. 

“ Some will observe,” says Kiimpfer, “that the Jaj^anese are 
wanting in a competent knowledge of the law. I could heartily 
wish, for my part, that we Europeans knew as little of it as 
they, since there is such an abuse made of a science highly useful 
in itself, that innocence, instead of being relieved, is often still more 
oppressed. There is a much shorter way to obtain justice in Japan, 

* It would seem from Guysbert, that the participation by young children in 
the death decreed against the parents, was rather the act of those parents 
who had the power of life and death over their children, and who did not 
choose to part with them in this extremity. 




TAXATION. 


269 


and, indeed, all over the East; — no necessity for being at law for 
many years together, no occasion for so many writings, answers, 
briefs, and the like. The case is, without delay, laid before the 
proper court of judicature, the parties heard, the witnesses exam¬ 
ined, the circumstances considered, and judgment given without loss 
of time. Nor is there any delay to be apprehended from appeal¬ 
ing, since no superior court hath the power to mitigate the sentence 
pronounced in another, though inferior. And, although it cannot 
be denied but that this short way of proceeding is liable to some 
errors and mistakes in particular cases, yet I dare affirm that in 
the main it would be found abundantly less detrimental to the 
parties concerned than the tedious and expensive law-suits in 
Europe.” 

Certain yearly contributions, under the name of free gifts, were 
paid by all the house-owners and office-holders of Nagasaki, partly 
as perquisites to the governor and other officers, and partly for 
municipal purposes. So far as the house-owners were concerned, 
it amounted to a regular tax, levied according to the size of the 
lots; but this sort of levy was said to be unknown in other cities 
of the empire, and at Nagasaki was much more than made up for 
by the surplus share of the house-owners in the duty levied on the 
foreign trade, which, after paying all particular services and muni¬ 
cipal expenses, was divided among them. The only other tax was 
an imperial ground-rent on the house-lots — four mas (fifty cents), 
in the old town, and six mas (seventy-five cents) in the upper town, 
for every Idn (very nearly six English feet) of frontage, where the 
depth was not more than fifteen kin. On every lot exceeding that 
depth the tax was double. This is stated by Kampfer to be the only 
town tax levied throughout the empire, whether in the towns of 
the imperial domain, or in those belonging to particular lords, and 
the city of Miako, by a particular privilege, was exempt even from 
this. 

A municipal police, similar to that of Nagasaki, was established 
in all the other towns, boroughs, and villages, with this difference 
only, that the magistrates, though invested with the same power, 
were, perhaps, known by different names, and that their adminis¬ 
tration was, in general, much less strict than at Nagasaki. 

The adjacent country was under the control of an imperial 

23 * 



270 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


steward (the same forming a part of the imperial domains), who 
collected the rent, forming, with the house-tax, the entire imperial 
revenue. This rent amounted to four parts in ten of the crop; 
whereas inferior landlords exacted six parts in ten. Grain was 
" delivered in kind; garden grounds, orchards and woods, paid a 
compensation in money. 

We may close this account of Nagasaki with a description of 
the Matsuri, or public spectacle exhibited on the birth-day of the 
god Suwa, the patron of the city, one of the occasions on which the 
butch were permitted to leave the island of Desima, for the pur¬ 
pose of witnessing the spectacle. This festival was, and still is, 
celebrated at the expense of ten or eleven streets, uniting each year 
for that purpose; so that every street is called upon thus to con¬ 
tribute once in seven or eight years, except that in which the cour¬ 
tesans reside, which must pay every year. The celebration consists 
in processions, plays, dances, &c., and as something new must 
always be got up, at least in the way of dress, it is attended with 
heavy expense. 

The temple of Suwa, according to Kiimpfer’s description, stands 
not far from the town, upon the mountain Tutla. A fine stair-case, 
of two hundred stone steps, leads up to it. The temple court, 
somewhat lower than the Mia itself, extends down the declivity of 
the mountain. At the entry of this court, next the gate, is a long, 
open room, or gallery, where plays are acted, for the diversion both 
of Suioa and his worshippers. This room is curiously adorned with 
many pictures and carved images, placed there by devout w’orship- 
pers in fulfilment of vows made in some moment of exigency. 
Further otF stand some small chapels of wood, clean and neat, but 
without ornaments. In the same court stand the temples of Mu~ 
rasaki and Simios, each of whom has also his Mikosi, or small 
eight-angular shrine, curiously adorned, and hanging in beautiful 
polls, wherein their images or relics are carried about upon festi¬ 
vals. Kiimpfer also observed, in the same enclosure, another small 
chapel, built in honor of the god and lord of thousand legs, hung 
about with numbers of his clients, that is, with legs of all sorts and 
sizes, given by his worshippers. 

There are several festivals sacred to Suwa, of which the chief is 




suwa’s matsuri. 


271 


on the seventh, eighth, and ninth days of the ninth month.* On 
the eighth the god is diverted in his temple, at the expense of rich 
and devout people, with a musical concert, performed by boys beat¬ 
ing upon drums and bells—the very same music made use of to 
appease the supreme kami Tensio Dai Sin, when, out of disdain 
and anger, she hid herself in a cavern, and thereby deprived the 
world of light and sunshine.t 

* The Japanese year begins at the new moon nearest to the fifth of Feb¬ 
ruary (the middle point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox). 
For an account of the Japanese calendar, see p. 35. 

t According to Klaproth’s statement of Japanese legend, in his Histoire 
Mythologique, introductory to Titsingh’s Annals of the Dairi, the first 
three of the celestial gods were solitary males. The next three had female 
companions, yet produced their successors by the force of mutual contem¬ 
plation only. The seventh pair found out the ordinary method of gener¬ 
ation, of which the first result was the successive production of eight 
islands, those of Japan (the number eight being selected simply because it 
is esteemed the most perfect), after which they gave birth also to mountains, 
rivers, plants, and ti*ees. To provide a ruler and governor for these crea¬ 
tions, they next produced Tensio dai sin, or, in Japanese (for Tensio dai 
sin is Chinese), Ama terasu-no-kami (Celestial Spirit of Sunlight); but, 
thinking her too beautiful for the earth, they placed her in the heavens, as they 
did, likewise, their second born, a daughter, also, Tsouki-no-kami, goddess 
of the moon. Their third child, Ybis san-ro, was made god of the sea ; their 
fourth child, Sosan-no-ono, also a son, god of the winds and tempest. He 
was agreeable enough when in good humor, and at times had his eyes filled 
with tears, but was liable to such sudden outbreaks and caprices of temper 
as to render him quite unreliable. It was concluded to send him away to 
the regions of the north ; but before going he got leave to pay a visit to his 
sisters, in heaven. At first he had a good understanding with them, but 
soon committed so many outrages, — in the spring spoiling the flower borders, 
and in the autumn riding through the ripe corn on a wild horse, — that in 
disgust Tensio dai sin hid herself in a cavern, at the mouth of which she 
placed a great stone. Darkness forthwith settled over the heavens. The 
eight hundred thousand gods, in great alai’m, assembled in council, when, 
among other expedients, one of their number, who was a famous dancer, 
was set to dance to music at the mouth of the cavern. Tensio dai sin, out 
of curiosity, moved the stone a little, to get a look at what was ‘going on, 
when immediately Ta tsikara o-no kami (god of the strong hand) caught 
hold of it, rolled it away, and dragged her out, while two others stretched 
ropes across the mouth so that she could not get in again. Finally the 
matter was compromised by clipping the claws and hair of Sosan-no-07io, 
after which he was sent off to the north, though not till he had killed a 





272 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


The great festival of the ninth consists of processions through the 
principal streets, and spectacles exhibited in a temporary building 
of bamboo, with a thatched roof, open towards the square on which 
it is erected. “ The whole building,” says Kampfer, “ scarcely de¬ 
serves to be compared to one of our barns, it is so mean and simple,_ 
for it must be purposely built according to the sorry architecture of 
their indigent ancestors. A tall fir is planted on each side of the 
front of this temple, and three sides of the square are built round 
with benches and scaffolds for the convenience of spectators. 

“ Everything being ready, the Sinto clergy of the city appear in 
a body, with a splendid retinue, bringing over in procession the 
Mikosi of their great Suwa, as, also, to keep him company, that 
of Symios. Murasaki is left at home, as there is no instance in 
the history of his life and actions from which it could be inferred 
that he delighted in walking and travelling. 

“ The Sinto clergy, upon this occasion, styl€» themselves Ootomi — 
that is, i\\Q,hiyh great retinue —which pompous title, notwithstanding 

dragon, married a wife, and become the hero of other notable adventures. 
This legend makes it clear what Angiro, the first Japanese convert meant, 
by speaking of the Japanese as worshippers of the sun and moon. See anUy 
p. 49. The annual festival of Tensio dai sin falls on the sixteenth day of 
the ninth month, immediately after that of Suwa, and is celebr/ited through¬ 
out the empire by matsuri much like that described in the text. The six¬ 
teenth, twenty-first, and twenty-sixth days of every month are likewise sacred 
to her, but not celebrated with any great solemnity. 

Kampfer mentions as the gods particularly worshipped by the mercan¬ 
tile class — 1. Jebisu (or, as Klaproth writes it, Ybis-san-ro), the Neptune 
of the country, and the protector of fishermen and seafiiring people, said to 
be able to live two or three days under water. He is represented sitting on 
a rock, with an angling-rod in one hand and the delicious fish, Tai, or 
Steinbrassin (Sparus Aurata, the Japanese name, signifies red lady) in the 
other. 2. Daikoku, commonly represented sitting on a bale of rice, with his 
fortunate hammer in his right hand, and a bag laid by him to put in what 
he knocks out; for he is said to have the power of knocking out, from what¬ 
ever he strikes with his hammer, whatever he wants, as rice, clothes, money, 
&c. Klaproth states him to be of Indian origin, and that his name signifies 
Great Black. 3. Tositoku, represented standing, clad in a large gown with 
long sleeves, with a long beard, a huge forehead, large ears, and a fan in his 
right hand. Vi orshipped at the beginning of the new year, in hopes of obtain¬ 
ing, by his assistance, success and prosperity. 4. Fotei, represented with a 
huge belly, and supposed to have in his gift health, riches, and children. 



suwa’s matsuri. 


273 


the alms-chest is one of the principal things they carry in the pro¬ 
cession, and, indeed,” says Kampfer, “ to very good purpose, for 
there is such a multitude of things thrown among them by the 
crowds of superstitious spectators, as if they had a mind out of 
mere charity to stone them. 

“ When they come to the place of exhibition, the ecclesiastics 
seat themselves, according to their quality, which appears in good 
measure by their dress, upon three benches, built for them before 
the front of the temple. The two superiors take the uppermost 
bench, clad in black, with a particular head ornament, and a short 
staff, as a badge of their authority. Four others, next in rank, sit 
upon the second bench, dressed in white ecclesiastical gowns, with a 
black lackered cap, something different from that worn by their 
superiors. The main body takes possession of the third and lower¬ 
most bench, sitting promiscuously, and all clad in white gowns, with 
a black lackered cap, somewhat like those of the Jesuits. The 
servants and porters appointed to carry the holy utensils of the 
temple, and other people who have anything to do at this solemnity, 
stand next to the ecclesiastics, bareheaded. 

“ On the other side of the squai-e, opposite to the ecclesiastics, 
sit the deputies of the governors, under a tent, upon a fine mat, 
somewhat raised from the ground. For magnificence sake, and out 
of respect for this holy act, they have twenty pikes of state planted 
before them in the ground. 

“ The public spectacles on these occasions are a sort of plays, 
acted by eight, twelve, or more persons. The subject is taken out 
of the history of their gods and heroes. Their remarkable adven¬ 
tures, heroic actions, and sometimes their love intrigues, put in 
verse, are sung by dancing actors, whilst others play upon musical 
instruments. If the subject be thought too grave and moving, 
there is now and then a comic actor jumps out unawares upon the 
stage, to divert the audience with his gestures a^d merry discourse 
in prose. Some of their other plays are composed only of ballets, 
or dances, like the performance of the mimic actors on the Roman 
stage. For the dancers do not speak, but endeavor to express the 
contents of the story they are about to represent, as naturally as 
possible, both by their dress and by their gestures and actions, reg¬ 
ulated according to the sound of musical instruments. The chict 




274 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1G92. 


subjects of the play, such as fountains, bridges, gates, houses, gar¬ 
dens, trees, mountains, animals, and the like, are also represented, 
some as big as the life, and all in general contrived so as to be 
removed at pleasure, like the scenes of our European plays.* 

“ The actors are commonly girls, taken out of the courtesans’ 
houses, and boys from those streets at whose expense the solem¬ 
nity is performed. They are all magnificently clad, in variously 
colored silken gowns, suitable to the characters they are to present; 
and it must be owned that, generally speaking, they act their part 
with an assurance and becoming dexterity, not to be exceeded, nay, 
scarce to be paralleled, by the best European actors. 

“ The streets which bear the expense make their appearance in 
the following order: First of all is carried a rich canopy, or else an 
umbrella, made of silk, being the palladium of the street. Over it, 
in the middle, is placed a shield, whereupon is w'rit, in large char¬ 
acters, the name of the street. Next to the canopy follow the 
musicians, masked, and in proper liveries. The music is both vocal 
and instrumental. The instruments are chiefly flutes of difierent 
sorts, and small drums; now and then a large dram, cymbals and 
bells, are brought in among the rest. The instrumental music is so 
poor and lamentable, that it seems much easier to satisfy their 
gods than to please a musical ear. Nor is the vocal part much 
preferable to the instrumental, for although they keep time toler¬ 
ably, and sing according to some notes, yet they do it in so very 
slow a manner that the music seems to be rather calculated to 
regulate their action, and the motions of their body in their ballets 
and dances, wherein they are very ingenious and dexterous, and 
little inferior to our European dancers, excepting only that they 
seem to want a little more action and swiftness in their feet. 

“ The musicians are followed by the necessary machines and the 
whole apparatus for the ensuing representations, the largest being 
carried by laboring people, the lesser—as benches, staffs, flowers, 
and the like — by the children of the inhabitants, neatly clad. 
Next follow the actors themselves, and after them all the inhab¬ 
itants of the street in a body, in their holiday clothes and garments 

* On the whole, and from the play-hills presently given, the performance 
would seem to be a good deal like that of Pyramus and Thisbe, in the Mid¬ 
summer Night’s Dream. 




DRAMATIC EXHIBITIONS. 


275 


of ceremony. To make the appearance so much the greater, the 
procession is closed by a considerable number of people, who carry 
stools, and other things, walking two and two. 

“ The dances and shows of each street commonly last about three 
quarters of an hour, and, being over, the company marches off in 
the same order they came in, to make way for the appearance and 
shows of another street, which is again followed by another, and so 
on. All the streets strive to outdo each other in a magnificent 
retinue and surprising scenes. The processions and shows begin 
early in the morning, and the whole ends about noon.” 

The following were among the presentations by the different 
streets at the matsuri at which Kiimpfer was present. 

1. “ Eight young girls, clad in colored gowns, interwove with 
large white flowers, with broad hats, as if to defend them from the 
heat of the sun, with fans and flowers in their hands, dancing by 
turns. They were from time to time relieved by a couple of old 
women dancing in another dress. 

2. “A garden, with fine flowers on each side of the place where 
the act was performed, a thatched house in the middle, out of which 
jumped eight young girls, dressed in white and red, dancing, with 
fans, canes, and flower-baskets. They were relieved by a very 
good actress, who danced by herself. 

3. “ Eight triumphal chariots, with oxen before them, of differ¬ 
ent colors, the whole very naturally represented, and drawn by 
young boys, well clad. Upon them stood a Tsulaki tree, in flower ; 
a mountain, covered with trees; a thicket of bamboos, with a tiger 
lurking; a load of straw, with an entire tree, with its root and 
branches ; a whale, under a rock, half covered with water. Last 
of all, another mountain appeared, with a real boy, magniflcently 
clad, who stood at the top, under an apricot-tree in full blossom. 
This mountain was again drawn by boys. 

4. “ Some dancers, acting between six flower-beds, which, and a 
green tree, were drawn upon the place by boys. Nine other boys, 
in the same dress, and armed each with two swords and a musket; 
a peasant, dancing. 

5. “ A mountain, carried upon men’s shoulders ; a fountain, with 
a walk round it; a large cask, and a house, were severally set upon 
the place. Then two giants, masked, with prodigious great heads, 




276 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1C90-1692. 


representing some Indian deities, began a dance. They were met 
soon after by a third, of a still more monstrous size, who came forth 
out of the mountain, armed with a great broad-sword. He was 
followed by seven Chinese, jumping out of the same mountain, 
though to all appearance quite small, and dancing about in com¬ 
pany with the giants. After some time spent in dances, the great 
monstrous giant beat the cask to pieces, out of which came a young 
boy, very handsomely clad, who, after a fine long speech, which he 
delivered in a very graceful manner, danced with ffte giant alone. 
Meanwhile, three monkeys, with roe’s heads, crept out of the foun¬ 
tain, and, jumping on the walk round it, performed a dance, mimick¬ 
ing that of the giant and boy. This done, every one returned to 
his place, and so the scene ended. 

6. “ The pompous retinue of a prince, travelling with his son, 
very naturally represented by boys. 

7. “ Several huge machines, accurately resembling, both in size 
and color, the things they were to represent, but made of a thin 
substance, so that one man could easily carry one upon his back. 
But, besides this load on the back, every one of these men had a 
very large drum hanging before him, which some others played 
upon with bells. After this manner they crossed the stage, danc¬ 
ing, though not very high, because of their load. The things which 
they carried were, a well, with all the implements for extinguishing 
fires; a large church-bell, with the timber work belonging to it, 
and a drao-on wound round it for ornament’s sake : a mountain, 
covered with snow, and shaped like a dragon, with an eagle on the 
top; a brass gun, weighing twenty-four pounds, with all the tackle 
belonging to it; a heavy load of traveller’s trunks, packed up in 
twelve straw balls, according to the country fashion ; a whale in a 
dish; several shell fish and fruits, as big as the life, carried each 
by one person.” 



CHAPTER XXX. 


KAMPFER’S two journeys to court. — PREPARATIONS. — PRESENTS. — JAP¬ 
ANESE ATTENDANTS.-PACKING THE BAGGAGE AND RIDING ON HORSEBACK. 

-JAPANESE LOVE OF BOTANY.-ACCOUTREMENTS.-ROAD-BOOKS. -NOR- 

IMONS AND CANGOS. — A. D. 1690—1692. 

Mention has already been made of the custom established in 
Japan, that all the governors of imperial cities and of provinces, 
and, indeed, all the Daimio and Siomio —that is, nobles of the 
first and second rank — should, once a year, make a journey to 
court; those of the first rank to pay their respects and make 
presents to the emperor in person, and those of the second rank to 
salute his chief ministers, assembled in council. 

In this respect the director of the Dutch trade is placed on the 
same footing with the superior nobility, and his journey to court, 
accompanied by a physician, a secretary or two, and a flock of 
Japanese attendants of various ranks, afl'ords the Dutch the only 
opportunity they have of knowing anything by their own personal 
observation, beyond the vicinage of Nagasaki. 

Kampfer made this journey twice — the first time in 1691, and 
again in 1692 — and, notwithstanding the strict surveillance under 
which the Dutch are kept, his observations were highly curious. 
Besides a journal of his daily route, he gives a general summary 
of all that he observed, containing a great deal of curious informa¬ 
tion, the most interesting part of which is copied in this and the 
following chapters, nearly in his own words : 

“ The first thing to be done, is to look out proper presents for 
his imperial majesty, for his privy councillors, and some other great 
officers at Jedo, Miako and Osaka, the whole amounting, as near 
as possible, to a certain sum, to assort them, and particularly to 
assign to whom they are to be delivered. Afterwards they must 
24 


278 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


be put up into leather bags, which are carefully wrapped up in 
mats, in order to preserve them from all accidents in so long a 
journey; and, for a further security, several seals are affixed to 
them. 

“ It is the business of the governors of Nagasaki to judge and 
determine what might prove acceptable to the court. They take 
out of the goods laid up in our warehouses what they think 
proper, and give instructions to the departing director about such 
things as should be sent over from Batavia the next year. Some¬ 
times some of their own goods they have been presented with by 
the Chinese are put in among these presents, because by this means 
they can dispose of them to the best advantage, either by obliging 
us to buy them at an excessive and their own price, or by exchang¬ 
ing them for other goods. Now and then some uncommon curiosi¬ 
ties, either of nature or art, are brought over from Europe, and 
other parts of the world, on purpose to be presented to the emperor; 
but it often happens that they are not approved of by these rigid 
censors. Thus, for instance, there were brought over, in my time, 
two brass fire-engines of the newest invention, but the governors 
did not think them proper to be presented to the emperor, and so 
returned them to us, after they had first seen them tried, and taken 
a pattern of them.* Another time the bird Casuar t was sent over 
from Batavia, but likewise disliked and denied the honor of appear¬ 
ing before the emperor, because they heard he was good for nothing 
but to devour a large quantity of victuals. 

“These presents are placed on board a barge, three or four 
weeks before our departure, and sent by water to Simonoseki, a 
small town at the south-western extremity of the great island of 
Nipox, where they wait our arrival by land. Formerly our ambas¬ 
sador, with his whole retinue, embarked at the same time, whereby 
we saved a great deal of trouble and expense we must now be at 
in travelling by land; but a violent storm having once put the whole 

* Certainly there is nothing of which the Japanese stood, and still stand, 
moi’e in need, than some contrivance for extinguishing fires. Caron, in his 
memorial addressed to Colbert, had recommended a present of fire-extin¬ 
guishers. 

t See p. 204. 



JOURNEY TO COURT. 


279 


company into eminent danger, and the voyage having been often, 
by reason of the contrary winds, too long and tedious, the emperor 
has ordered that for the fixture we should go by land. The pres¬ 
ents for the imperial court, and other heavy baggage, being sent 
before us, the rest of the time till our departure is spent in prepar¬ 
ations for our journey, as if we designed some great expedition into 
a remote part of the world. 

“ The first and most essential part consists in nominating, and 
giving proper instructions to, the several officers, and the whole 
retinue that is to go with us to court. The governors appoint one 
of their Joriki to be Bugio, that is, head and commander in chief. 
He is to represent the authority of his masters, as a badge whereof 
he hath a pike carried after him. A Dosiu is ordered to assist him 
in quality of his deputy. Both the Joriki and Dosiu are taken 
from among the domestics of one of the governors, who stays that 
year at Nagasaki. To these are added two beadles, who, as well as 
the Dosiu, carry, by virtue of their office, a halter about them, to 
arrest and secure, at command or wink from the Joriki, any person 
guilty or suspected of any misdemeanor. All these persons are 
looked upon as military men, and as such have the privilege of 
wearing two swords; — all persons that are not either noblemen by 
birth, or in some military employment, being by a late imperial 
edict denied this privilege. 

“ I have already stated that our interpreters are divided into two 
companies, the upper consisting of the eight chief interpreters, and 
the inferior including all the rest. The Ninban, or president for 
the time being, of each of these companies is appointed to attend 
us in this journey. To these is now added a third, as an appren¬ 
tice, whom they take along with them to qualify him for the succes¬ 
sion. All the chief officers, and all other persons that are able to 
do it, take some servants along with them, partly to wait upon 
them, partly for state. The Bugio and the principal interpreter 
take as many as they please, the other officers each two or three, as 
they are able, or as their office requires. The Dutch captain, or 
ambassador, may take three, and every Dutchman of his retinue is 
allowed one. The interpreters commonly recommend their favorites 
to us, and the more ignorant they are of the Dutch language, the 
better it answers their intention. 



280 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1G90—1692. 


“ I omit to mention some other persons, who, by order or by spe¬ 
cial leave of the governors and interpreters, make the journey in 
company with us, and at our expense, too, though otherwise they 
have no manner of business upon our account. 

“ All these future companions of our voyage have leave to make 
us some friendly visits at Desima, in order to get beforehand a 
little acquainted with us. There are many among them who would 
■willingly be more free and open, were it not for the solemn oath 
they must all take before their departure, but much more for the 
fear of being betrayed by others, since, by virtue of the same oath, 
thej^ are obliged all and every one of them to have a strict and 
watchful eye, not only over the Dutch, but also over the conduct of 
each other, particularly with regard to the Dutch. 

“ Another branch of preparations for our journey is the hiring 
of horses and porters. This is the chief interpreter’s business, as 
keeper of our purse, who is also appointed to take care that what¬ 
ever is wanted during the whole journey be provided for. ’T is he, 
likewise, that gives orders to keep everything in readiness to march 
the minute the Dugio is pleased to set out. 

“Two days before our departure every one must deliver his 
cloak, bag and portmantle, to proper people, to be bound up; — this 
not after our European manner, but after a particular one of their 
own, -which deserves to be here described. 

“ A plain wooden saddle, not unlike the pack-saddles of the 
Swedish post-horses, is girded on the horse with a breast-leather 
and crupper. Two latchets are laid upon the saddle, which hang 
down on both sides of the horse, in order to their being conveniently 
tied about two portmantles, which are put on each side in a due 
balance; for when once tied together, they are barely laid on the 
horse’s back, without any other thong or latchet to tie them faster. 
However, to fasten them in some measure, a small, long box, or 
trunk, called by the Japanese Adofski, is laid over both portmantles 
upon the horse’s back, and tied fast to the saddle with thongs; and 
over the whole is spread the traveller’s covering and bedding, which 
are tied fast to the Adofski and side trunks. The cavity between 
the two trunks, filled up with some soft stuff, is the traveller’s seat, 
where he sits, as it were, upon a flat table, commodiously enough, 
either cross-legged or with his legs extended hanging down by the 



J01311NEY TO COURT. 


281 


horse’s neck, as he finds it most convenient. Particular care must 
be taken to sit in the middle, and not to lean too much on either 
side, which would either make the horse fall, or else the side trunks 
and rider. In going up and down hills the footmen and stable 
grooms hold the two side trunks fast, for fear of such an accident. 
The traveller mounts the horse, and alights again, not on one side, 
as we Europeans do, but by the horse’s breast, which is very trouble¬ 
some for stiff legs. The horses are unsaddled and unladen in an 
instant; for having taken the bed-clothes away, which they do 
first of all, they need but untie a latchet or two, which they are 
very dexterous at, and the whole baggage falls down at once. The 
latchets, thongs and girths, made use of for these several purposes, 
are broad and strong, made of cotton, and withal very neatly 
worked, with small, oblong, cylindrical pieces of wood at both 
ends, which are of great use to strain the latchets, and to tie 
things hard. 

“ The saddle is made of wood, very plain, with a cushion under¬ 
neath and a caparison behind, lying upon the horse’s back, with 
the traveller’s mark, or arms, stitched upon it. Another piece of 
coarse cloth hangs down on each side as a safeguard to the horse, 
to keep him from being daubed with dirt. These two pieces are 
tied together loosely under the horse’s belly. His head is covered 
with a net-work of small but strong strings, to defend it, and par¬ 
ticularly the eyes, from flies, which are very troublesome. The 
neck, breast and other parts, are hung with small bells. ' 

“ The side portmantles, which are filled only with light stuff, and 
sometimes only with straw, are a sort of square trunk, made of 
stiff horse leather, mostly four feet long, a foot and a half broad, 
and as many deep. The cover is made somewhat larger, and so 
deep as to cover the lower part down to the bottom. Though they 
hold out rain very well, yet, for a greater security, they are wrapt 
up in mats, with strong ropes tied about them; for which reason, 
and because it requires some time to pack them up, they are seldom 
unpacked till you are come to the journey’s end, and the things 
which are the most wanted upon the road are kept in the Adofski. 
This is a small, thin trunk or case, about four feet and a half in 
length, nine inches broad, and as many deep. It contains one 
single drawer, much of the same length, breadth and depth. It 
24 * 



282 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690 -1692. 


hath a little door or opening on one side, which can be locked up, 
and by which you can come conveniently at the drawer, without 
untying the Adofski. What things are daily wanted upon the 
road must be kept in this trunk. It serves likewise to fasten the 
two portmantles, or side trunks, which would otherwise require a 
stick. It is made of thick, strong, gray paper, and, further to 
secure it against all accidents of a long journey, strings are tied 
about it in form of a net, very neatly. 

“To complete our traveller’s equipage, some other things are 
requisite, which are commonly tied to the portmantles. Such are, 

1. A string with Seni, a brass money with a hole in the middle, 
they being more proper to buy what necessaries are wanted on the 
road than silver money, which must be weighed. People that travel 
on horseback tie this string behind them to one of the sashes of 
their seats. Foot travellers carry it in a basket upon their back * 

2. A lantern, of vatnished and folded paper, with the possessor’s 
arms painted upon its middle. This is carried before travellers by 
their footmen, upon their shoulder, in travelling by night. It is tied 
behind one of the portmantles, put up in a net or bag, which again 
hath the possessor’s arms, or marks, printed upon it, as have in gen¬ 
eral the clothes and all other movables travellers of all ranks and 
qualities carry along with them upon their journeys. 3. A brush 
made of horse’s hairs, or black cock feathers, to dust your seat and 
clothes. It is put behind your seat, on one side, more for show 
than use. 4. A water-pail, which is put on the other side of the 
seat, opposite to the brush, or anywhere else. 5. Shoes, or slippers, 
for horses and footmen. These are twisted of straw, with ropes 
likewise of straw, hanging down from them, whereby they are tied 
about the horse’s feet, instead of our European iron horse-shoes, 
which are not used in this country. They are soon worn out in 
stony, slippery roads, and must be often changed for new ones. 
For this purpose, the men that look after the horses always carry 
a competent stock along with them, tied to the portmanteaus, though 

* These seni were of various values, a thousand of them being worth, ac¬ 
cording to Caron, from eight to twenty-six mas, that is, from a dollar to 
three dollars and a quarter; the seni varying, therefore, from a mill to three 
mills and a quarter. Of the existing copper coinage we shall speak 
hereafter. See p. 531. 





LOVE OF BOTANY. 


283 


they are to be met with in every village, and are offered for sale by 
poor children begging along the road. 

“ I must beg leave to observe that, besides the several things 
hitherto mentioned, which travellers usually carry along with them 
in their journeys, I had for my own private use a very large Javan 
box, which I had brought with me from Batavia. In this box I 
privately kept a large mariner’s compass, in order to measure the 
directions of the roads, mountains and coasts; but open and exposed 
to everybody’s view, was an ink-horn; and I usually filled it with 
plants, flowers, and branches of trees, which I figured and described 
(nay, under this pretext whatever occurred to me remarkable). Doing 
this, as I did it free and unhindered, to everybody’s knowledge, I 
should be wrongly accused to have done anything which might 
have proved disadvantageous to the Company’s trade in this coun¬ 
try, or to have thereby thrown any ill suspicion upon our conduct 
from so jealous and circumspect a nation. Nay, far from it, I 
must own that, from the very first day of our setting out, till our 
return to Nagasaki, all the Japanese companions of our journey, 
and particularly the Bugio, or commander-in-chief, were extremely 
forward to communicate to me what uncommon plants they met 
with, together with their names, characters and uses, which they 
diligently inquired into among the natives. The Japanese, a very 
reasonable and sensible people, and themselves great lovers of 
plants, look upon botany as a study both useful and innocent, 
which, pursuant to the very dictates of reason and the law of 
nature, ought to be encouraged by everybody. Thus much I know, 
by my own experience, that of all the nations I saw and conversed 
with in my long and tedious travels, those the least favored botani¬ 
cal learning who ought to have encouraged it most. Upon my return 
to Nagasaki, Tounemon, secretary and chief counsellor to the gov¬ 
ernors, being at Desima, sent for me, and made me, by the chief 
interpreter, the following compliment: That he had heard with 
great pleasure from our late Bugio, how agreeably I had spent my 
time, and what diversion I had taken upon our journey in that 
excellent and most commendable study of botany, whereof he, Tgune- 
moriy himself was a great lover and encom’ager. But I must con¬ 
fess, likewise, that at the beginning of our journey I took what 
pains and tried what means I could to procure the friendship and 



284 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1690—1692. 


assistance of my fellow-travellers, obliging some with a submissive 
humble conduct and ready assistance, as to physic and physical 
advice, others with secret rewards for the very meanest services and 
favors. 

“ A traveller must not forget to provide himself with a cloak, 
against rainy weather, made of double-varnished oiled paper, and 
withal so very large and wide that it covers and shelters at once 
man, horse and baggage. It seems the Japanese have learned the 
use of it, together with the name Kappa^ from the Portuguese. 

“ To keep off the heat of the sun travellers must be provided 
with a large hat, which is made of split bamboos or straw, very 
neatly and artfully twisted, in form of an extended sombrero, or 
umbrella. It is tied under the chin with broad silk bands, lined 
with cotton. It is transparent and exceedingly light, and yet, if 
once wet, will let no rain come through. Not only the men wear 
such hats upon their journeys, but also the women in cities and 
villages, at all times, and in all weathers, and it gives them no dis¬ 
agreeable look. 

“ The Japanese upon their journeys wear very wide breeches, 
tapering towards the end, to cover the legs, and slit on both sides 
to put in the ends of their large, long gowns, which would otherwise 
be troublesome in walking or riding. Some wear a short coat or 
cloak over the breeches. Some, instead of stockings, tie a broad 
ribbon around their legs. Ordinary servants, chiefly Norimon-men 
and pike-bearers, wear no breeches, and, for expedition’s sake, tuck 
their gowns quite up to their belt, exposing their naked bodies, 
which they say they have no reason at all to be ashamed of. 

“ The J apanese of both sexes never go abroad without fans, as 
we Europeans seldom do without gloves.* Upon their jornmeys 

* “ Though it may sound extraordinary to talk of a soldier with a fan, yet 
the use of that article is so general in Japan that no respectable man is to be 
seen without one. These fans are a foot long, and sometimes serve for para¬ 
sols ; at others instead of memorandum books. They are adorned with 
paintings of landscapes, birds, flowers, or ingenious sentences. The etiquette 
to be observed in regard to the fan requires profound study and close atten¬ 
tion.” — Titsingh. “ At feasts and ceremonies the fan is always stuck in the 
girdle, on the left hand, behind the sabre, with the handle downward.” — 
Thunberg. 



HORSEMANSHIP. 


285 


they make use of a fan which hath the roads printed upon it, and 
tells them how many miles they are to travel, what inns they are 
to go to, and what price victuals are at. Some, instead of such a 
fan, make use of a road-book, which are offered them for sale by 
numbers of poor children, begging along the road. The Dutch are 
not permitted, at least publicly, to buy any of these fans, or road¬ 
books. 

“ A Japanese on horseback, tucked up after this fashion, makes 
a very comical figure at a distance; for, besides that they are 
generally short and thick, their large hat, wide breeches and cloaks, 
together with their sitting cross-legged, make them appear broader 
than long. Upon the road they ride one by one. Merchants have 
their horses, with the heavy baggage packed up in two or three 
trunks or bales, led before them. They follow, sitting on horseback, 
after the manner above described. As to the bridle, the traveller 
hath nothing to do with that, the horse being led by one of his foot¬ 
men, who walks at the horse’s right side, next by the head, and 
together with his companions sings some merry song or other, to 
divert themselves, and to animate their horses. 

“ The Japanese look upon our European way of sitting on horse¬ 
back, and holding the bridle one’s self, as warlike and properly 
becoming a soldier. For this very reason they seldom or never use 
it in their journeys. It is more frequent among people of quality 
in cities, where they go a visiting one another. But even then the 
rider (who makes but a sorry appearance when sitting after our 
manner) holds the bridle merely for form, the horse being still led 
by one, and sometimes.by two, footmen, who walk on each side of 
the head, holding it by the bit. Their saddles come nearer our Ger¬ 
man saddles than those of any Asiatic nation. The stirrup-leath¬ 
ers are very short. A broad round leather hangs down on both 
sides, after the fashion of the Tartars, to defend the legs. The stir¬ 
rup is made of iron, or Sowaas, very thick and heavy, — not unlike 
the sole of a foot, and open on one side, for the rider to get his 
foot loose with ease, in case of a fall, — commonly of an exceeding 
neat workmanship, and inlaid with silver. The reins are not of 
leather, as ours, but of silk, and fastened to the bit. 

“ Besides going on horseback, there is another more stately and 
expensive way of travelling in this country, and that is to be car- 



286 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


ried in Norimons and Kangos, or particular sorts of chairs or litters. 
The same is usual likewise in cities. People of quality are carried 
about after this manner for state, others for ease and convenience. 
There is a wide difference between the litters men of quality go in, 
and those of ordinary peojfle. The former are sumptuous and mag¬ 
nificent, according to every one’s rank and riches. The latter are 
plain and simple. The former are commonly called Norimons, the 
latter Kangos. The vulgar (in all nations master of the language) 
have called them by two different names, though, in fact, they are 
but one thing. Norimon signifies, properly speaking, a thing to sit 
in; Kango, a basket. Both sorts rise through such a variety of 
degrees, from the lowest to the highest, from the plainest to the 
most curious, that a fine Kango is scarce to be distinguished from a 
plain and simple Norimon, but by its pole. The pole of a Kango 
is plain, massy, all of one piece, and smaller than that of a Nori¬ 
mon, which is large, curiously adorned and hollow. The pole of a 
Norimon is made up of four thin boards, neatly joined together, in 
form of a wide arch, and much lighter than it appears to be. 
Princes and great lords show their rank and nobility, amongst 
other things, particularly by the length and largeness of the poles 
oPtheir Norimons. People who fancy themselves to be of greater 
quality than they really are, are apt now and then to get the poles 
of their Norimons or Kangos much larger than they ought to have 
been. But then, also, they are liable to be obliged by the magis¬ 
trates, if they come to know of it, to reduce them to their former 
size, with a severe reprimand, if not a considerable punishment, 
into the bargain. This regulation, however, doth not concern the 
women, for they may, if they please, make use of larger poles 
than their own and their husbands’ quality would entitle them to. 
The Norimon itself is a small room, of an oblong square figure, big 
enough for one person conveniently to sit or lie in, curiously woven 
of fine, thin, split bamboos, sometimes japanned and finely painted, 
with a small folding-door on each side, sometimes a small window 
before and behind. Sometimes it is fitted up for the conveniency 
of sleeping in it. It has at top a roof, which in rainy weather has 
a covering of varnished paper. It is carried by two, four, eight or 
more men, according to the quality of the person in it, who (if he 
be a prince or lord of a province) carry the pole on the palms of 




NORIMONS AND KANGOS. 


28T 


their hands; otherwise, they lay it upon their shoulders. All these 
Norimon-men are clad in the same livery, with the coat of arms or 
mark of their masters. They are every now and then relieved by 
others, who in the mean time walk by the Norimon’s side. 

“ The Kangos are not near so fine nor so well attended. They are 
much of the same figure, but smaller, with a solid, square, or some¬ 
times a round, pole, which is either fastened to the upper part of 
the roof, or put through it underneath. ^ The Kangos commonly 
made use of for travelling, chiefly for carrying people over moun¬ 
tains, are very poor and plain, and so small, that one cannot 
sit in them without very great inconveniency, bowing the head 
and laying the legs across. They are not unlike a basket with a 
round bottom, and a flat roof, which one reaches with his head. In 
such Kangos we are carried over the rocks and mountains, which 
are not easily to be passed on horseback. Three men are appointed 
for every Kango, who, indeed, for the heaviness of their burden, have 
enough to do.” 












CHAPTER XXXI. 


HIGHWAYS.—RIVERS.—FORDS.— FERRIES. —BRIDGES. — WATER PART OF THE 
JOURNEY. — COAST AND ISLANDS.-FRAIL STRUCTURE OF JAPANESE VES¬ 
SELS.-DESCRIPTION OF THEM.-BUILDINGS ON THE ROUTE.-DWELLING- 

HOUSES. CASTLES. TOWNS. VILLAGES. COTTAGES. PROCLAMATION 

PLACES. PLACES OP EXECUTION. TIRAS OR BUDDHIST TEMPLES. — MIAS 

OR SINTO TEMPLES. — IDOLS AND AMULETS. 

“The empire of Japan,” says Kampfer, “is divided into seven 
great tracts,* every one of which is bounded by a highway, and, as 
these tracts are subdivided into provinces, so there are particular 
ways leading to and from every one of these provinces, all ending 
in the great highways, as small rivers lose themselves in great ones. 
These highways are so broad that two companies, though never 
so great, can, without hindrance, pass by one another. That com¬ 
pany, which, according to their way of speaking, goes up, that is, 
to Miako, takes the left side of the way, and that which comes from 
Miako the right. All the highways are divided into measured 
miles, which are all marked, and begin from the great bridge at 
Jedo as the common centre. This bridge is by way of preeminence, 
called Niponbas, that is, the bridge of Japan. By this means, a 
traveller, in whatever part of the empire he be, may know at any 
time how many Japanese miles it is from thence to Jedo. The 
miles are marked by two small hills thrown up, one on each side of 
the way, opposite each other, and planted at the top with one or 
more trees. At the end of every tract, province, or smaller district, 
a wooden or stone pillar is set up in the highway, with characters 
upon it, showing what provinces or lands they are which here 
bound upon each other, and to whom they belong. Like pillars are 
erected at the entry of the side-ways which turn oiBF from the great 

* This is exclusive of the central tract or imperial domain (consisting of 
five provinces), and also of the two island provinces of Iki and Tsu-sima. 


HIGHWAYS. 


289 


highway, showing what province or dominion they lead to, and the 
distance in leagues to the next remarkable place. The natives, as 
they improve every inch of ground, plant firs and cypress trees in 
rows along the roads over the ridges of hills, mountains and other 
barren places. No firs or cypress can be cut down without leave of 
the magistrate of the place, and they must always plant young ones 
instead of those they cut down. 

“ In our journey to court we pass along two of these chief high¬ 
ways, and go by water from one to the other, so that our whole 
journey is divided into three parts. We set out from Nagasaki to 
go by land across the island Kiusiu, to the town of Kokura, where 
we arrive in five days. From Kokura we pass the straits in small 
boats to Simo?ioseki, a convenient and secure harbor, about two 
leagues off, where we find our barge, with the baggage, riding at 
anchor and waiting our arrival. The road from Nagasaki to 
Kokura is called by the Japanese Saikaido, that is, the west 
sea way.* At Simonoseki we go on board our barge for Fiogo, 
where we arrive in eight days, more or less, according to the wind. 
Osaka^ a city very famous for the extent of its commerce and the 
wealth of its inhabitants, lies about thirteen Japanese water-leagues 
from Fiogo, which, on account of the shallowness of the water, we 
make in small boats, leaving our large barge at Fiogo till our return. 
From Osaka we go again by land, over the great island Nipon, as 
far as Jedo, the emperor’s residence, where we arrive in about four¬ 
teen days or more. The road from Osaka to Jedo is by the Japan- 
ese called Takaido, that is, the east sea or coast way. We stay at 
Jedo about twenty days, or upwards; and having had an audience 
of his imperial majesty, and paid our respects to some of his chief 
ministers and favorites, we return to Nagasaki the same way, com¬ 
pleting our whole journey in about three months’ time.t 

* For a part of the distance across Siusiu (or Ximo), different routes were 
taken in the first and second of Kampfer’s journeys. In the first he crossed 
the gulf of Omura; in the second, the gulf of Simabara, these two gulfs en¬ 
closing the peninsula of Omura, the one on the north, the other on the east. 

t The distance is reckoned by the Japanese at three hundi’ed and thirty- 
two to three hundred and thirty-three leagues ; but these Japanese leagues 
are of unequal length, varying from eighteen thousand to about thii’teen 
thousand feet, and the water-leagues generally shorter than those by land, 

25 




290 


JAPAN. — A. D. leOO—1C92. 


“In most parts of Saikaido, and everywhere upon Tokaido, 
between the towns and villages, there is a straight row of firs 
planted on each side of the road, which by their agreeable shade 
make the journey both pleasant and convenient. The ground is 
kept clean and neat, convenient ditches and outlets are contrived to 
carry off the rain-water, and strong dikes are cast up to keep off 
that which comes down from higher places. This makes the road 
at all times good and pleasant, unless it be then raining and the 
ground slimy. The neighboring villages must jointly keep them in 
repair, and sweep and clean them every day. People of great 
quality cause the road to be swept with brooms, just before they 
pass it; and there lie heaps of sand in readiness, at due distances 
(brought thither some days before), to spread over the road, in order 
to dry it, in case it should rain upon their arrival. The lords of 
the several provinces, and the princes of the imperial blood, in their 
journeys, find, at every two or three leagues’ distance, huts of green- 
leaved branches erected for them, with a private apartment, where 
they may step in for their pleasures or necessities. The inspectors 
for repairing the highway are at no great trouble to get people to 
clean them, for whatever makes the roads nasty is of some use to 
the neighboring country people, so that they rather strive who shall 
first carry it away. The pine-nuts, branches and leaves, which fall 
down daily from the firs, are gathered for fuel to supply the want 
of wood, which is very scarce in some places. Nor doth horses’ 
dung lie long upon the ground, but is soon taken up by poor coun¬ 
try children, and serves to manure the fields. For the same reason 
care is taken that the filth of travellers be not lost, and there are in 
several places, near country people’s houses, or in their fields, 
houses of oflice built for them. Old shoes of horses and men, 
which are thrown away as useless, are gathered in the same houses, 
burnt to ashes, and added to the mixture. Supplies of this com¬ 
position are kept in large tubs or tuns, buried even with the ground 
in their villages and fields, and, being not covered, afford full as 
ungrateful and putrid a smell of radishes (which is the commpn 
food of country people) to tender noses, as the neatness and beauty 
of the road is agreeable to the eyes. 

in the proportion of five to three. Kampfer makes the whole distance two 
hundred German or about eight hundred English miles. 




RIVERS. 


291 


“ In several parts of the country the roads go over hills and 
mountains, which arc sometimes so steep and high, that travellers 
arc necessitated to get themselves carried over them in kangos, 
such as I have described in the preceding chapter, because they 
cannot, without great difficulty and danger, pass them on horseback. 
But even this part of the road, which may be called bad in com¬ 
parison to others, is green and pleasant, for the abundance of springs 
of clear water, and green bushes, and this all the year round, but 
particularly in the spring, when the flower-bearing trees and shrubs 
being then in their full blossom, prove an additional beauty, aflford- 
ing to the eye a curious view, and filling the nose with agreeable 
scent, 

“ Several of the rivers we are to cross over, chiefly upon Tokai- 
do, run with so impetuous a rapidity towards the sea, that they 
will bear no bridge nor boat, and this by reason partly of the 
neighboring snow-mountains, where they arise, partly of the 
f]-equent great rains, which swell them to such a degree as to make 
them overflow their banks. These must be forded. Men, horses 
and baggage, are delivered up to the care of certain people, bred up 
to this business, who are well acquainted with the bed of the river, 
and the places which are the most proper for fording. These 
people, as they are made answerable for their passengers’ lives, and 
all accidents that might befall them in the passage, exert all their 
strength, care and dexterity, to support them with their arms against 
the impetuosity of the river, and the stones rolling down from the 
mountains where the rivers arise. Norimons are carried over by 
the same jDCople. 

The chief of these rivers is the formidable Gingawa, which sep¬ 
arates the two provinces Tutomi and Suruga. The passage of 
this river is what all travellers are apprehensive of, not only for its 
uncommon rapidity and swiftness, but because sometimes, chiefly 
after rains, it swells so high, that they are necessitated to stay sev¬ 
eral days on either bank, till the fall of the water makes it passable, 
or till they will venture the passage, and desire to be set over at 
their own peril. The rivers Fusi-Jedagawa and Abigawa, in the 
lust mentioned province, are of the like nature, but not so much 
drei^ded. 

“ There are many other shallow and rapid rivers, but because 



292 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1G90—1G92. 


they are not near so broad nor impetuous as those above mentioned 
passengers are ferried over them in boats, which are built after a 
particular fashion proper for such a passage, with flat, thin bottoms, 
which will give way, so that if they run aground, or upon some 
great stone, they may easily, and without any danger slide over it 
and get off again. The chief of these are the river TensiuM the 
province Tutomi ; Fusigawa, in the province Seruga ; Benriu, 
in the province Musasi, and Askagawa, which is particularly 
remarkable, for that its bed continually alters, for which reason 
inconstant people are compared to it in proverb. 

“ Strong, broad bridges are laid over all other rivers which do 
not run with so much rapidity, nor alter their beds. These bridges 
are built of cedar, and kept in constant repair, so that they look at 
all times as if they had been but lately finished. They are railed 
on both sides. As one may travel all over Japan without paying 
any taxes or customs, so likewise they know nothing of any money 
to be paid by way of a toll for the repair of highways and bridges. 
Only in some places the custom is, in winter-time, to give the 
bridge-keeper, who is to look after the bridge, a seni for his 
trouble. 

“ That part of our journey to court made by water is along the 
coasts of the great island Nipon, which we have on our left, steering 
our course so as to continue always in sight of land, and not above 
one or two leagues off it at farthest, that in case of a storm arising 
it may be in our power forthwith to put into some harbor. Coming 
out of the straits of Simonoseki, we continue for some time in sight 
of the south-eastern coasts of Kiusiu. Having left these coasts, we 
come in sight of those of the island Sikokf. We then make the 
island Awadsi, and, steering between this island and the main land 
of the province Idsumi, we put into the harbor of Osaka^ and so 
end that part of our journey to court which must be made by sea. 
All these coasts are very much frequented, not only by the princes 
and lords of the empire, with their retinues, travelling to and from 
court, but likewise by the merchants of the country, going from one 
province to another to buy and sell, so that one may chance on 
some days to see upwards of a hundred ships under sail. The 
coasts hereabouts are rocky and mountainous; but many of the 
mountains are cultivated to their very tops; they are well inhab- 



COASTING VOYAGE. 


293 


ited and stocked with villages, castles and small towns. There are 
very good harbors in several places, where ships put in at night to 
lie at anchor, commonly upon good clean ground, in four to eight 
fathoms. 

“ In this voyage we pass innumerable small islands, particularly 
in the straits between Sikokf and Nipon. They are all mountain¬ 
ous, and for the most part barren and uncultivated rocks. Some 
few have a tolerable good soil and sweet water. These are inhab¬ 
ited, and the mountains, though never so steep, cultivated up to 
their tops. These mountains (as also those of the main land of 
Nipon) have several rows of firs planted for ornament’s sake along 
their ridges at top, which makes them look at a distance as if they 
w^ere fringed, and afibrds a very curious prospect. There is hardly 
an island, of the inhabited ones, but what hath a convenient har¬ 
bor, with good anchoring ground, where ships may lie safe. All 
Japanese pilots know this very well, and will sometimes come to an 
anchor upon very slight pretences. Nor, indeed, are they much to 
be blamed for an over-carefulness, or too great a circumspection, 
which some would be apt to call fear and cowardice. Their ships 
are not built strong enough to bear the shocks and tossings of huge 
raging waves. 'The deck is so loose that it will let the water 
run through, unless the mast hath been taken down and the ship 
covered, partly with mats, partly with sails. The stern is laid quite 
open, and, if the sea runs high, the waves will beat in on all sides. 
In short, the whole structure is so weak that, a storm approaching, 
unless anchor be forthwith cast, the sails taken in, and the mast let 
down, it is in danger every moment to be shattered to pieces. 

“ All the ships and boats we met with on our voyage by sea were 
built of fir or cedar, both which grow in great plenty in the coun¬ 
try. They are of a different structure, according to the purposes 
and the waters for which they are built. The pleasure-boats, made 
use of only for going up and down rivers, or to cross small bays, 
are widely different in their structure, according to the possessor’s 
fancy. Commonly they are built for rowing. The first and lower¬ 
most deck is fiat and low ; another, more lofty, with open windows, 
stands upon it, and this may be divided, like their houses, by fold¬ 
ing screens, as they please, into several apartments. Several parts 
are curiously adorned with variety of flags and other ornaments. 
25 * 



294 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1C92. 


“ The merchant-ships which venture out at sea, though not very 
far from the coasts, and serve for the transport of men and goods 
from one island or province to another, deserve a more accurate 
description. They are commonly eighty-four feet long and 
twenty-four broad, built for sailing as well as rowing. They 
run tapering from the middle towards the stern, and both ends 
of the keel stand out of the water considerably. The body of 
the ship is not built bulging, as our European ones; but that 
part which stands below the surface of the water runs almost in a 
straight line towards the keel. The stern is broad and flat, with a 
wide opening in the middle for the easier management of the rud¬ 
der, which reaches down almost to the bottom of the ship, and lays 
open all the inside to the eye. The deck, somewhat raised towards 
the stern, consists only of deal boards laid loose, without anytliing 
to fasten them together. It rises but little above the surface of the 
water, when the ship hath its full lading, and is almost covered 
with a sort of a cabin, full a man’s height, only a small part of it 
towards the stern being left empty to lay up the anchor and other 
tackle. This cabin jets beyond the ship about two feet on each 
side; and there are sliding-windows round it, which may be opened 
or shut, as occasion requires. In the furthermost parts are the cab¬ 
ins, or rooms for passengers, separate from each other by folding 
screens and doors, with floors covered with fine neat mats. The 
furthermost cabin is always reckoned the best, and for this reason 
assigned to the chief passenger. The roof, or upper deck, is flat- 
tish, and made of neat boards curiously joined together. In rainy 
weather the mast is let down upon the upper deck, and the sail 
extended over it, affording to the sailors and the people employed 
in the ship’s service shelter and a place to sleep at night. Some¬ 
times, and the better to defend the upper deck, it is covered with 
common straw mats, which for this purpose lie there at hand. The 
ship hath but one sail, made of hemp, and very large. She hath 
also but one mast, standing up about a fathom beyond her middle 
towards the stern. This mast, which is of the same length with the 
ship, is hoisted up by pulleys, and again, when the ship comes to an 
anchor, let down upon deck. The anchors are of iron, and cables 
twisted of straw, and stronger than one would imagine. Ships of 
this burden have commonly thirty or forty hands apiece to row 





BUILDINGS. 


295 


them, if the wind fails. The watermen’s benches are towards the 
stern. They row according to the air of a song, or other noise, 
which serves at the same time to direct and regulate their work 
and to encourage the rowers. They do not row after our European 
manner, extending their oars straight forwards, and cutting just 
the surface of the water, but let them fall down into the water 
almost perpendicularly, and then lift them up again. This way of 
rowing not only answers all the ends of the other, but is done with 
less trouble. The benches of the rowers are raised considerably 
above the surface of the water. Their oars are, besides, made in a 
particular manner, calculated for this way of rowing, being not 
straight like our European oars, but somewhat bent, with a mova¬ 
ble joint in the middle, which, yielding to the violent pressure of the 
water, facilitates the taking them up. The ship’s timbers and planks 
are fastened together with hooks and bands of copper. The stern 
is adorned with a knot of fringes made of thin, long, black strings. 
Men of quality in their voyages have their cabin hung all about 
with cloth, whereupon is stitched their coats of arms. Their pike 
of state, as the badge of their authority, is put up upon the stern 
on one side of the rudder. On the other side there is a weather- 
flag for the use of the pilot. In small ships, as soon as they come 
to an anchor, the rudder is hoisted up, and one end of it extended 
to the shore, so that one may pass through the opening of the stern, 
as through a back door, and walking over the rudder, as over a 
bridge, get ashore. Thus much of the ships. I proceed now to 
other structures and buildings travellers meet with in their journeys 
by land. 

“ It may be observed, in general, that the buildings of this coun¬ 
try, ecclesiastical or civil, public or private, being commonly 
low and of wood, are by no means to be compared to ours in 
Europe, neither in largeness nor magnificence. The houses of pri¬ 
vate persons never exceed six kins, or thirty-six feet in height. 
Nay, ’t is but seldom they build their houses so high, unless they 
design them also for warehouses. Even the palaces of the Dairi, 
the secular monarch, and of the princes and lords, are not above 
one story high. And although there be many common houses, 
chiefly in towns, of two stories, yet the upper story, if it deserves 
that name, is generally very low, unfit to be inhabited, and good for 



296 


JAPAN. — A. D. J690—1692. 


little else but to lay up some of the least necessary household goods, 
it being often without a ceiling or any other cover but the bare roof. 
The reason of their building their houses so low, is the frequency 
of earthquakes, which prove much more fatal to lofty and massy 
buildings of stone, than to low and small houses of wood. But if 
the houses of the Japanese be not so large, lofty, or so substantially 
built as ours, they are on the other hand greatly to be admired for 
their uncommon neatness and cleanliness, and curious furniture. I 
could not help taking notice that the furniture and the several orna¬ 
ments of their apartments make a far more graceful and handsome 
appearance in rooms of a small compass, than they would do in 
large, lofty halls. They have none, or but few, partition walls to 
divide their rooms from each other, but instead of them make use 
of folding screens, made of colored or gilt paper, and laid into 
wooden frames, which they can put up or remove whenever they 
please, and by this means enlarge their rooms or make them nar¬ 
rower, as it best suits their fancy or convenience. The floors are 
somewhat raised above the level of the street, and are all made of 
boards, neatly covered with flue mats,* the borders whereof are 
curiously fringed, embroidered, or otherwise neatly adorned. All 
mats are of the same size in all parts of the empire, to wit, a kin, 
or six feet long,t and half a kin broad. All the lower part of the 
house, the staircase leading up to the second story, if there be any, 
the doors, windows,!^ posts and passages, are curiously painted and 
varnished. The ceilings are neatly covered with gilt or silver col¬ 
ored paper, embellished with flowers, and the screens in several 
rooms curiously painted. In short, there is not one corner in the 
whole house but looks handsome and pretty, and this the rather 
since all their furniture may be bought at an easy rate. 

“ I must not forget to mention, that it is very healthful to live 

* Three or four inches thick (according to Thunberg), and made of rushes 
and rice straw. 

t Japanese feet, that is, for, according to Klaproth {AnnaUs des Emp. du 
Japon), page 404, note, the kin is equal to seven feet four inches and a 
half, Rhineland (which does not differ much from our English) measure. 

% These windows are of light frames, which may be taken out, and put in, 
and slid behind each other, at pleasure, divided into parallelograms like our 
panes of glass, and covered with paper. Glass windows are unknown. 




CASTLES. 


297 


in these houses, and that in this particular they are far beyond ours 
in Europe, because of their being built all of cedar wood, or fir; 
and because the windows are generally contrived so that upon 
opening them, and removing the screens which separate the rooms, 
a free passage is left for the air through the whole house. 

“ I took notice that the roof, which is covered with planks,* or 
shingles of wood, rests upon thick, strong, heavy beams, as large as 
they can get them, and that the second story is generally built 
stronger and more substantial than the first. This they do by rea¬ 
son of the frequent earthquakes which happen in this country, 
because, they observe, that in case of a violent shock, the pressure 
of the upper part of the house upon the lower, which is built much 
lighter, keeps the whole from being overthrown. 

“The castles of the Japanese nobility are built, either on great 
rivers, or upon hills and rising grounds. They take in a vast deal 
of room, and consist commonly of three difierent fortresses, or en¬ 
closures, which cover and defend, or, if possible, encompass one 
another. Each enclosure is surrounded and defended' by a clean, 
deep ditch, and a thick, strong wall, built of stone or earth, with 
strong gates. Guns they have none. The principal and innermost 
castle or enclosure is called the Foumas, that is, the true or chief 
castle. It is the residence of the prince or lord who is in posses¬ 
sion of it, and as such it is distinguished from the others by a square, 
large, white tower, three or four stories high, with a small roof 
encompassing each story like a crown or garland. In the second 
enclosure, called NmmaSy that is, the second castle, are lodged the 
gentlemen of the prince’s bed-chamber, his stewards, secretaries and 
other chief officers, who are to gi^a constant attendance about his 
person. The empty spaces are cultivated, and turned either into 
gardens or sown with rice. The third and outwardmost enclosure 
is called Sotogamei, that is, the outwardmost defence; as, also, 
Niniwmas, that is, the third castle. It is the abode of a numerous 
train of soldiers, courtiers, domestics and other people, everybody 
being permitted to come into it. The white walls, bastions, gates, 
each of which hath two or more stories built over it, and above all 
the beautiful tower of the innermost castle, are extremely pleasant 


* Thunberg says, “ tiles of a singular make, very thick and heavy.’* 



298 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


to behold at a distance. There is commonly a place -without the 
castle designed for a rendezvous and review of troops. Hence it 
appears, that, considering wars are carried on in this country with¬ 
out the use of great guns, these castles are well enough defended, 
and of sufficient strength to hold out a long siege. The proprietors 
are bound to take particular care that they be kept in constant 
repair. However, if there be any part thereof going to min, the 
same cannot be rebuilt without the knowledge and express leave of 
the emperor. Much less doth the emperor sutfer new ones to be 
built in any part of his dominions. The castles wdiere the princes 
or lords reside are commonly seated at the extremity of some large 
town, which encompasses them in the form of a half-moon.* 

“Most of the towns are very populous, and well built. The 
streets are generally speaking regular, running straight forward, 
and crossing each other at right angles, as if they had been laid 
out at one time, and according to one general ground-plot. The 
towns are not surrounded with walls and ditches. The two chief 
gates, where people go in and out, are no better than the ordinary 
gates which stand at the end of every street, and are shut at night. 
Sometimes there is part of a wall built contiguous to them on 
each side, merely for ornament’s sake. In larger towns, where 
some prince resides, these two gates are a little handsomer, and 
kept in better repair, and there is commonly a strong guard 
mounted, all out of respect for the residing prince. The rest of 
the town generally lies open to the fields, and is but seldom enclosed 
even with a common hedge, or ditch. In our journey to court, I 
counted thirty-three towns and residences of princes of the empire, 
some wffiereof we passed through, but saw others only at a distance. 
Common towns and large villages or boroughs, on our road, I 
computed at from seventy-seven to eighty or upwards.! 

“ I could not help admiring the great number of shops we met 
with in all the cities, towns and villages; w’hole streets being scarce 
anything else but continued rows of shops on both sides, and I own, 
for my part, that I could not well conceive how the whole country 

* In a Japanese map brought home by Karapfer the number of castles in 
the whole emph’e is set down at a hundred and forty-six. 

t The whole number of towns in the empire, great and small, is set do-wn 
in the above mentioned map at more than thirteen thousand. 




PROCLAMATION PLACES. 


299 


is able to furnish customers enough, only to make the proprietors 
get a livelihood, much less to enrich them. 

“ The villages along the highways in the great island Nipon, 
have among their inhabitants but few farmers, the far greater part 
being made up by people who resort there to get their livelihood 
either by selling some odd things to travellers, or by servile daily 
labor. Most of these villages consist only of one long street, bor¬ 
dering on each side of the highway, which is sometimes extended to 
such a length as almost to reach the next village. 

“ The houses of country people and husbandmen consist of four 
low walls covered with a thatched or shingled roof. In the back 
part of the house the floor is somewhat raised above the level of the 
street, and there it is they place the hearth ; the rest is covered 
with neat mats. Behind the street door hang rows of coarse 
ropes made of straw, not to hinder people from coming in or going 
out, but to serve instead of a lattice-window to prevent such as are 
without from looking in and observing what passes within doors. 
As to household goods they have but few. Many children and 
great poverty is gejjerally what they are possessed of; and yet 
with some small provision of rice, plants and roots, they live content 
and happy. ‘ ^ 

“ Passing through cities and villages and other inhabited places, 
we always found, upon one of the chief public streets, a small place 
encompassed with grates, for the supreme will, as the usual way of 
speaking is in this country, that is, for the imperial orders and 
proclamations. The lord or governor of every province publishes 
them in his own name for the instruction of passengers. They are 
written, article by article, in large, fair characters, upon a square 
table of a foot or two in length, standing upon a post at least twelve 
feet high. We saw several of these tables, as w^e travelled along, of 
difierent dates and upon different subjects. The chief, largest and 
oldest, contain the edict against the Homan Catholic religion, setting 
forth also proper orders relating to the image-trampling inquisition, 
and specifying what reward is to be given to any person or persons 
that discover a Christian or a priest. The lords or governors of prov¬ 
inces put up their own orders and edicts in the same place. This 
is the reason why there are sometimes so many standing behind or 
near one another, that it is scarce possible to see and to read them 




300 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690-1692. 


all. Sometimes, also, they have pieces of money, in gold or silver, 
stuck or nailed to them, to be given as a reward to any one who 
discovers any flict, person or criminal therein mentioned. These 
grated proclamation-cases are commonly placed, in great cities, just 
at the entrance, and in villages and hamlets in the middle of the 
chief streets, where there is the most passing. Along the road there 
are some other orders and instructions for passengers, put up in the 
like manner, but upon lower posts. These come from the sheriffs, 
surveyors of the roads and other inferior officers, and although the 
things therein ordered or intimated be generally very trifling, yet 
they may involve a transgressor or negligent observer in great 
troubles and expense. 

“ Another remarkable thing we met with, as we travelled along, 
were the places of public execution, easily known by crosses, posts, 
and other remains of former executions. They commonly lie with¬ 
out the cities or villages, on the west side. 

“In this heathen country fewer capital crimes are tried before the 
courts of justice, and less criminal blood shed by the hands of public 
executioners, than perhaps in any part of Christendom. So power¬ 
fully works the fear of an inevitable, shameful death upon'the minds 
of a nation, otherwise so stubborn as the Japanese, and so regard¬ 
less of their lives, that nothing else but such strictness would be 
able to keep them within due bounds. ’T is true, indeed, Nagasaki 
cannot boast of that scarcity of executions ; for besides that this 
place hath been in a manner consecrated to cruelty and blood, by 
being made the common butchery of many thousand Japanese 
Christians, there have not been since wanting frequent executions, 
particularly of those people who, contrary to the severe imperial 
edict, canflot leave off carrying on a smuggling trade with for¬ 
eigners, and who alone perhaps of the whole nation seem to be 
more pleased with this unlawful gain, than frightened by the shame¬ 
ful punishment which they must inevitably suffer if caught in the 
fact or betrayed to the governors. 

“ Of all the religious buildings to be seen in this country, the 
Tira, that is, the Buddhist temples, with the adjoining convents, 
are, doubtless, the most remarkable, as being far superior to all 
others, by their stately height, curious roofs, and numberless other 
beautiful ornaments. Such as are built within cities or villages, 





TEMPLES. 


301 


stand commonly on rising grounds, and in the most conspicuous 
places. Others, which are without, are built on the ascent of hills 
and mountains. All are most sweetly seated, — a curious view of 
the adjacent country, a spring or rivulet of clear water, and the 
neighborhood of a wood, with pleasant walks, being necessary for 
the spots on which these holy structures are to be built. 

“ All these temples are built of the best cedars and firs, and 
adorned within with many carved images. In the middle of the 
temple stands a fine altar, with one or more gilt idols upon it, and 
a beautiful candlestick, with sweet-scented candles burning before 
it. The whole temple is so neatly and curiously adorned, that one 
would fancy himself transported into a Roman Catholic church, 
did not the monstrous shape of the idols, which are therein wor¬ 
shipped, evince the contrary. The whole empire is full of these 
temples, and their priests are without number. Only in and about 
IMiako they count three thousand eight hundred and ninety-three 
temples, and thirty-seven thousand and ninety-three Siukku, or 
priests, to attend them. 

“ The sanctity of the Mia, or temples sacred to the gods of old 
worshipped in the country, requires also that they should be built 
in some lofty place, or, at least, at some distance from unclean, 
common grounds. I have elsewhere observed that they are at¬ 
tended only by secular persons.* A neat broad walk turns in from 
the highway towards these temples. At the beginning of the walk 
is a stately and magnificent gate, built either of stone or of wood, 
with a square table, about a foot and a half high, on which the 
name of the god to whom the temple is consecrated is written or 
engraved in golden characters. 

“ Of this magnificent entry one may justly say, Farturiunt 
Montes; for if you come to the end of the walk, which is some¬ 
times several hundred paces long, instead of a pompous, magnificent 
building, you find nothing but a low, mean structure of wood, often 
all hid amidst trees and bushes, with one single grated window to 
look into it, and within either all empty, or adorned only with a look¬ 
ing-glass of metal, placed in the middle, and hung about with some 

* Kampfer’s meaning seems to be only that the Sinto priests were not 
monks living together in convents, like the Buddhist clergy, but having 
houses and families of their own. 

26 



802 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


bundles of straw, or cut white paper, tied to a long string, in form 
of fringes, as a mark of the purity and sanctity of the place. The 
most magnificent gates stand before the temples of Tensiodai sin, of 
Fatzman, and of that Kami, or god, whom particular places choose 
to worship as their tutelar deity, who takes a more particular caie 
to protect and defend them.* 

“ Other religious objects travellers meet with along the roads, 
are the Fotoge, or foreign idols, chiefly those of Amida and Disisoo, 
as also other monstrous images and idols, which we found upon the 
highways in several places, at the turning in of sideways, near 
bridges, convents, temples, and other buildings. They are set up 
partly as an ornament to the place, partly to remind travellers of 
the devotion and worship due to the gods. For this same purpose, 
drawings of these idols, printed upon entire or half sheets of paper, 
are pasted upon the gates of cities and villages, upon wooden posts, 
near bridges, upon the proclamation-cases above described, and in 
several other places upon the highway, which stand the most ex¬ 
posed to the traveller’s view. Travellers, however, are not obliged 
to fall down before them, or to pay them any other mark of wor¬ 
ship and respect than they are otherwise willing to do. 

“ On the doors and houses of ordinary people (for men of quality 
seldom suffer to have theirs thus disfigured) there is commonly 
pasted a sorry picture of one of their Lares, or house gods, printed 
upon a half sheet of paper. The most common is the black-horned 
Giwon, otherwise called God-su Ten Oo — that is, according to 
the literal signification of the Chinese characters for this name, 
the ox-headed prince of heaven — whom they believe to have the 
power of keeping the family from distempers, and other unlucky 

♦According to a memorandum annexed to the Japanese map already 
mentioned, there ■were in Japan twenty-seven thousand seven hundred 
Kami temples, one hundred and twenty-two thousand five hundred and 
eighty Buddhist temples, in all forty-nine thousand two hundred and eighty. 
By the census of 1850, there were in the United States thirty-eight thousand 
one hundred and eighty-three buildings used for religious worship. 

It would appear that though the Sinto temples did not want worshippers 
who freely contributed alms to the support of the priests, yet that since tlie 
abolition of the Catholic worship, and as a sort of security against it, eveiy 
Japanese was required to enroll himself as belonging to some Buddhist sect 
or observance. 




CHARMS AND AMULETS. 


303 


N 

accidents, particularly from the small-pox, which proves fatal to 
great numbers of their children. Others fancy they thrive ex¬ 
tremely well, and live happy, under the protection of a countryman 
of Jeso, whose monstrous, frightful picture they paste upon their 
doors, being hairy all over his body, and carrying a large sword 
with both hands, which they believe he makes use of to keep off, 
and, as it were, to parry, all sorts of distempers and misfortunes 
endeavoring to get into the house. 

“ On the fronts of new and pretty houses I have sometimes seen 
dragons’ or devils’ heads, painted with a wide open mouth, large 
teeth and fiery eyes. The Chinese, and other Indian nations — 
nay, even the Mahomedans in Arabia and Persia — have the same 
placed over the doors of their houses, by the frightful aspect of this 
monstrous figure to keep oflF, as the latter say, the envious from dis¬ 
turbing the peace of families. 

“ Often, also, they put a branch of the Fauna Skimmi or anise¬ 
tree over their doors, which is, in like manner, believed to bring 
good luck into their houses; or else liverwort, which they fancy hath 
the particular virtue to keep off evil spirits; or some other plants or 
branches of trees. In villages they often place their indulgence 
boxes,* which they bring back from their pilgrimage to Isje, over 
their doors, thinking, also, by this means to bring happiness and 
prosperity upon their houses. Others paste long strips of'paper to 
their doors, which the adherents of the several religious sects and 
convents are presented with by their clergy, for some small gratuity. 
There are odd, unknown characters, and divers forms of prayers, 
writ upon these papers, which the superstitious firmly believe to 
have the infiillible virtue of conjuring and keeping off all manner 
of misfortunes. Many more amulets of the like nature are pasted 
to their doors, against the plague, distempers, and particular mis¬ 
fortunes. There is, also, one against poverty.” 

* These offari or indulgence-boxes are little boxes made of thin boards and 
filled with small sticks wrapped in bits of white paper. Great virtues are 
ascribed to them, but a new one is necessary every year. They are manu¬ 
factured and sold by the Sinto priests. 



1 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

POST-HOUSES. — IMPERIAL MESSENGERS. — INNS. — HOUSES. -THEIR FURNI¬ 
TURE AND INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS.-BATHING AND SWEATING HOUSE. 

GARDENS. — REFRESHMENT HOUSES. -WHAT THEY PROVIDE.-TEA. 

“ To accommodate travellers, there is, in all the chief villages 
and hamlets, a post-house, belonging to the lord of the place, where, 
at all times, they may find horses, porters, footmen, &c., in readi¬ 
ness, at certain settled prices. Travellers, of all ranks and qualities, 
wdth their retinues, resort to these post-houses, which lie at from 
six to sixteen English miles distance from each other, but are, gen¬ 
erally speaking, not so good nor so well furnished upon Kiusiu as 
upon the great island Nipon, where we came to fifty-six in going 
from Osaka to Jedo. These post-houses are not built for inn-keep¬ 
ing, but only for stabling and exchange of horses, for which reason 
there is a spacious court belonging to each ; also clerks and book¬ 
keepers enough, who keep accounts, in their master’s name, of all 
the daily occurrences. The price of all such things as are to be 
hired at these post-houses is settled, not only according to distances, 
but with regard to the goodness or badness of the roads, to the 
price of victuals, forage, and the like. One post-house with another, 
a horse to ride on, with two portmantles and an adofski, may be 
had for eight seni a mile. A horse, which is only saddled, and 
hath neither men nor baggage to carry, will cost six seni; porters 
and kango-men, five seni, and so on. 

“ Messengers are waiting, day and night, at all these post-houses, 
to carry the letters, edicts, proclamations, &c., of the emperor and 
the princes of the empire, which they take up the moment they are 
delivered at the post-house, and carry to the next with all speed. 
They are kept in a small, black varnished box, bearing the coat-of- 
arms of the emperor or prince who sends them, which the messenger 


INNS. 


305 


carries upon his shoulder, tied to a small staff. Two of these 
messengers always run together, that in case any accident should 
befall either of them upon the road, the other may take his place, 
and deliver the box at the next post-house. All travellers, even 
the princes of the empire and their retinues, must retire out of the 
way and give a free passage to the messengers who carry letters or 
orders from the emperor, which they take care to signify at a due 
distance by ringing a small bell. 

“ There are inns enough, and tolerable good ones, all along the 
road. The best are in those villages where there are post-houses. 
At these even princes and princely retinues may be conveniently 
lodged, treated suitably to their rank, and provided with all neces¬ 
saries. Like other well-built houses, they are but one story high, 
or, if there be two stories, the second is low, and good for little else 
but stowage. The inns are not broader in front than other houses, 
but considerably deep, sometimes forty kin, or two hundred and 
forty feet, with a Tsubo — that is, a small pleasure-garden — be¬ 
hind, enclosed with a neat white wall. The front hath only lattice 
windows, which, in the day time, are kept open. The folding 
screens and movable partitions which divide the several apart¬ 
ments, unless there be some man of quality with his retinue at that 
time lodged there, are also so disposed as to lay open to travellers, 
as they go along, a very agreeable perspective view across the 
whole house into the garden behind. The floor is raised about 
three feet above the level of the street, and by jetting out, both 
towards the street and garden, forms a sort of gallery, which is 
covered with a roof, and on which travellers pass their time, divert¬ 
ing themselves with sitting or walking. From it, also, they mount 
their horses, for fear of dirtying their feet by mounting in the 
street. 

“ In some great inns there is a passage, contrived for the con- 
veniency of people of quality, that, coming out of their norimons, 
they may walk directly to their apartments, without being obliged 
to pass through the fore part of the house, which is commonly not 
over clean, and makes but an indifferent figure, being covered with 
poor, sorry mats, and the rooms divided only by ordinary screens. 
The kitchen is in this fore part of the house, and often fills it with 
smoke, as they have no chimneys, but only a hole in the roof to 
26 * 



306 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


let the smoke through. Here foot travellers and ordinary people 
live, among the servants. People of fashion are accommodated in 
the back part of the house, which is kept clean and neat to admi¬ 
ration. Not the least spot is to be seen upon the walls, floors, 
carpets, windows screens, in short, nowhere in the room, which 
looks as if it were quite new, and but newly furnished. There are 
no tables, chairs, benches, or other furniture in these rooms. They 
are only adorned with some Miseratsie, of which more presently, 
put into or hung up in the rooms, for travellers to amuse their 
leisure by examining, which, indeed, some of them very well de¬ 
serve. The Tsuho, or garden behind the house, is also very curi¬ 
ously kept, for travellers to divert themselves with walking in it, 
and beholding the beautiful flowers it is commonly adorned with. 

“The rooms in Japanese houses have seldom more than one 
blank wall, which is plastered with clay of Osaka, a good fine sort, 
and so left bare, without any other ornament. It is so thin that 
the least kick would break it to pieces. On all other sides the 
room has either windows or folding screens, which slide in grooves, 
as occasion requires. The lower groove is cut in a sill, which runs 
even with the mats, and the upper one in a beam, which comes 
down two or three feet from the ceiling. The beams in which the 
grooves run are plastered with clay of Osaka. The ceiling, to 
show the curious running of the veins and grain of the wood, is 
sometimes only covered Avith a thin, slight layer of a transparent 
varnish. Sometimes they paste it over Avith the same sort of vari¬ 
ously colored and flowered paper of which their screens are made. 
The paper windoAvs, which let light into the room, have wooden, 
shutters on both sides, taken off in the day time, but put on at 
night. 

“ In the solid wall of the room there is always a Toko, as they 
call it, or sort of a cupboard, raised about a foot or more above the 
floor, and very near tAvo feet deep. It commonly stands in that 
part of the Avail which is just opposite to the door, that being reck¬ 
oned the most honorable. Just before this toko two extraordi¬ 
narily fine mats are laid, one upon the other, and both upon the 
ordinary mats which cover the floor. These are for people of the 
first quality to sit upon, for, upon the arrival of travellers of less 
note, they are removed out of the way. At the side of the toko is 




FIRE-PLACES. 


307 


a Tokhvari, as they call it, or side cupboard, with some few shelves 
which serve the landlord or travellers, if they please, to lay their 
most esteemed book upon, they holding it, as the Mahometans do 
their Alcoran, too sacred to be laid on the ground. Upon the arri¬ 
val of the Dutch, this sacred book of the landlord is put out of the 
way. Above is a drawer, where they put up the inkhorn, paper, 
writings, books and other things of this kind. Here, also, travellers 
find sometimes the wooden box which the natives use at night, 
instead of a pillow. It is almost cubical, hollow, and made of six 
thin boards joined together, curiously varnished, smoothed, and very 
neat, about a span long, but not quite so broad, that travellers by 
turning it may lay their head in that posture which they find the 
most easy.* Besides this wooden pillow, travellers have no other 
bedding to expect from the landlord, and must carry their own 
along with them or lie on the mats, covering themselves with their 
clothes. In that side of the room next to the Toko is commonly 
a balcony, serving the person lodged in this, the chief room, to 
look out upon the neighboring garden, fields, or water, without stir¬ 
ring from the carpets placed below the toko. 

“ Beneath the floor, which is covered with fine, well-stufied mats, 
is a square walled hole, which, in the winter season, after having 
first removed the mats, they fill with ashes and lay coals upon them 
to keep the room warm. The landladies in their room put a low 
table upon this fire-hole, and spread a large carpet or table-cloth 
over it, for people to sit underneath, and to defend themselves 
against the cold. In rooms where there are no fire-holes they use 
in the winter brass or earthen pots, very artfully made, and filled 
with ashes, with two iron sticks, which serve instead of fire-tongs, 
much after the same manner as they use two other small sticks at 
table, instead of forks. 

“ I come now to the above mentioned Miseratsie, as they call 
them, being curious and amusing ornaments of their rooms. In 
our journey to court, I took notice of the following : 1. A paper 
neatly bordered with a rich piece of embroidery, instead of a frame, 
either with the picture of a saint done apparently with a coarse 
pencil, and in a few, perhaps three or four, strokes, wherein, how- 


♦ It is also used as a toilet-box, in which to keep combs, brushes, &c. 



808 


JAPAN. — A. B. 1690—1692. 


ever, the proportions and resemblance have been so far observed, 
that scarce anybody can miss finding out whom it was designed to 
represent, nor help admiring the ingenuity and skill of the master; 
or else a judicious moral sentence of some noted philosopher or 
poet, writ with his own hand, or the hand of some noted writing- 
master who had a mind to show his skill by a few hasty strokes or 
characters, indifferent enough at first sight, but nevertheless very 
ingeniously drawn, and such as will afford sufficient matter of 
amusement and speculation to a curious and attentive spectator; 
and, lest anybody should call their being genuine in question, they 
are commonly signed, not only by the writing-masters themselves, 
but have the hands and seals of some other witnesses put to them. 
They are hung up nowhere else but in the toko, as the most hon¬ 
orable place of the room, and this because the Japanese set a great 
value upon them. 

2. “ Pictures of Chinese, as also of birds, trees, landskips and 
other things, upon white screens, done by some eminent master, or 
rather scratched with a few hasty, affected strokes, after such a man¬ 
ner that, unless seen at a proper distance, they scarce appear natural. 

3. “ A flower-vase filled with all sorts of curious flowers, and 
green branches of trees, such as the season affords, curiously ranged 
according to the rules of art, it being as much an art in this country 
to arrange a flower-vase as it is in Europe to carve, or to lay a 
table. Sometimes there is, instead, a perfuming-pan, of excellent 
good workmanship, cast in brass or copper, resembling a crane, lion, 
dragon, or other strange animal. I took notice once that there was 
an earthen pot of Cologne, such as is used to keep Spauwater in, 
with all the cracks and fissures carefully mended, used in lieu of a 
flower-vase, it being esteemed a very great rarity, because of the 
distant place it came from, the clay it was made of, and its uncom¬ 
mon shape. 

4. “ Some strange, uncommon pieces of wood, wherein the colors 
and grain either naturally run after a curious and unusual manner, 
or have been brought by art to represent something. 

5. “ Some neat and beautiful network, adorning either the bal¬ 
cony and windows towards the garden, or the tops of the doors, 
screens and partitions of the chief apartments. 




BATHING AND SWEATING HOUSE. 


309 


6. “ A buncli of a tree, or a piece of a rotten root, or of an old 
stump, remarkable for their monstrous deformed shape. 

“ After this manner the chief and back apartments are furnished 
in great inns, and houses of substantial people. The other rooms 
gradually decrease in cleanliness, neatness and delicacy of furniture; 
the screens, windows, mats and other ornaments and household 
goods, after they have for some time adorned the chief apartments, 
and begin to be spotted and to grow old, being removed into the 
other rooms successively, there to be quite worn out. The chief 
of the other rooms is that where they keep their plate, china ware 
and other household goods, ranged upon the floor in curious order, 
according to their size, shape and use. Most of these are made of 
wood, thin, but strongly varnished, the greatest part upon a dark 
red ground. They are washed with warm water every time they 
have been used, and wiped clean with a cloth ; by which means they 
will, though constantly used, keep clean and neat, and in their full 
lustre for several years. 

“ The small gallery or walk which jets out from the house towards 
the garden, leads to the house of office and to a bathing-stove, or 
hot-house. The house of office is built on one side of the back part 
of the house, and hath two doors to go in. Not far off stands a 
basin filled with water to wash your hands, commonly an oblong, 
rough stone, the upper part curiously cut out into the form of a 
basin. A new pail of bamboo hangs near it, and is covered with a 
neat fir or cypress board, to which they put a new handle every 
time it hath been used, to wit, a fresh stick of the bamboo cane, it 
being a very clean sort of a wood, and in a manner naturally var¬ 
nished. The bathing-place, commonly built on the back side of the 
garden, contains either a hot-house to sweat in, or a warm bath, and 
sometimes both. It is made warm and got ready every evening, 
because the Japanese usually bathe or sweat after their day’s jour¬ 
ney is over, thinking by this means to refresh themselves, and to 
sweat off their weariness. As they can undress themselves in an 
instant, so they are ready at a minute’s warning to go into it; for 
they need but untie their sash, and all their clothes fall down at 
once, leaving them quite naked, excepting a small band which they 
wear close to the body about their waist. Their hot-house, which 
they go into only to sweat, is an almost cubical trunk, or' stove. 




310 


■ JAPAN.— A. D. 1690—1692. 


raised about three feet above the ground, and built close to the wall 
of the bathing-place, on the outside, — not quite six feet high, but 
about nine feet long, and of the same breadth. The floor is laid 
with small planed laths or planks, some few inches distant from 
each other, both for the easy passage of the rising vapors and the 
convenient outlet of the w^ater. You go, or rather creep in, 
through a small door or shutter. There are two other shutte. 
one on each side, to let out the superfluous vapor. The empty spacv 
beneath, down to the ground, is enclosed with a wall to prevent the 
vapors from getting out on the sides. Towards the yard, just be¬ 
neath the hot-house, is a furnace, part of which stands out towards 
the yard, where they put in the necessary water and plants. This 
part is shut with a clapboard when the fire is burning, to make all 
the vapors ascend through the inner and open part into the hot¬ 
house. There are always two tubs, one of warm the other of cold 
water, for such as have a mind to wash themselves. 

“ The garden is the only place in which we Dutchmen, being 
treated in all respects little better than prisoners, have liberty to 
walk. It is commonly square, with a back door, and walled in 
very neatly. There are few good houses or inns without one. If 
there be not room enough for a garden, they have at least an old 
ingrafted plum, cherry or apricot tree; and the older, the more 
crooked and monstrous, the greater value they put upon it. Some¬ 
times they let the branches grow into the rooms. In order to make 
it bear larger flowers and in greater quantity, they trim it to a few, 
perhaps two or three branches. It cannot be denied but that the 
great number of beautiful, incarnadine double flowers, are a curi¬ 
ous ornament to this back part of the house, but they have this dis¬ 
advantage, that they bear no fruit. In some small houses and inns 
of less note, where there is not room enough neither for a garden 
nor trees, they have at least an opening or window, to let the light 
fall into the back rooms, before which, for the amusement and diver¬ 
sion of travellers, is put a small tub full of water, wherein they 
commonly keep alive some gold or silver fish; and for further orna¬ 
ment there is generally a flower-pot or two standing there. Some¬ 
times they plant dwarf trees, which will grow easily upon pumice 
or other porous stones, without any earth at all, provided the root 
be put into the water, whence it will suck up sufficient nourish- 




GARDENS. 


311 


ment. Ordinary people often plant the same kind of trees before 
their street-doors. 

“ But to return to the Tsubo, or garden. A good one must 
include at least thirty feet square, and consist of the following 
essential parts: 1. The ground is covered partly with roundish 
stones of different colors, gathered in rivers or upon the sea-shore, 
w^ell washed and cleaned, and those of the same kind, laid together 
in form of beds, partly with gravel which is swept every day, and 
kept clean and neat to admiration, the large stones being laid in 
the middle as a path to walk upon without injuring the gravel, the 
whole in a seeming but ingenious confusion. 2. Some few flower- 
bearing shrubs planted confusedly, though not without some cer¬ 
tain rules. Amidst them stands sometimes a Saguer, as they call 
it, or scarce outlandish tree, sometimes a dwarf tree or two. 
3. A small rock or hill in a corner of the garden, made in imita¬ 
tion of nature, curiously adorned with birds and insects cast in 
brass, and placed between the stones. Sometimes the model of a 
temple stands upon it, built, as for the sake of the prospect they 
generally are, on a remarkable eminence or the borders of a preci¬ 
pice. Often a small rivulet rushes down t]ie stones with an agree¬ 
able noise, the whole in due proportions and as near as possible 
resembling nature. 4. A small thicket or wood on the side of the 
hill, for which the gardeners choose such trees as will grow close 
to one another, and plant and cut them according to their largeness, 
nature, and the color of their flowers and leaves, so as to make 
the whole very accurately imitate a natural wood or forest. 5. A 
cistern or pond, as mentioned above, with live fish kept in it, and 
surrounded with proper plants, that is, such as love a watery soil, 
and would lose their beauty and greenness if planted in a dry 
ground. It is a particular profession to lay out these gardens, and 
to keep them so curiously and nicely as they ought to be. 

“ There are innumerable smaller inns, cook-shops, saki, or ale¬ 
houses, pastry-cooks’ and confectioners’ shops, all along the road, 
even in the midst of woods and forests, and at the tops of moun¬ 
tains, where a weary foot-traveller, and the meaner sort of people, 
find at all times, for a few seni, something warm to eat, or hot tea, 
or saki, or somewhat else of the kind, wherewith to refresh them¬ 
selves. ’T is true, these cook-shops are but poor, sorry houses, if 




812 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


compared to larger inns, being inhabited only by poor people, who 
have enough to do to get a livelihood by this trade ; and yet, even 
in these, there is always something or other to amuse passengers, 
and to draw them in; sometimes a garden and orchard behind the 
house, which is seen from the street, looking through the passage, 
and which, by its beautiful flowers, or the agreeable sight of a 
stream of clear water, falling down from a neighboring natural or 
artificial hill, or by some other curious ornament of this kind, 
tempts people to come in and repose themselves. At other times, 
a large flower-pot stands in the window, filled with flowering 
branches of trees, disposed in a very curious manner. Sometimes a 
handsome, well-looking housemaid, or a couple of young girls, well 
dressed, stand under the door, and with great civility invite people 
to come in, and to buy something. The eatables, such as cakes, or 
whatever it be, are kept before the fire, in an open room, sticking 
to skewers of bamboos, so that passengers, as they go along, may 
take them and pursue their journey without stopping. The land¬ 
ladies, cooks and maids, as soon as they see anybody coming at a 
distance, blow up the fire, to make it look as if the victuals had 
been just got ready. Some busy themselves with making the tea, 
others prepare soup, others fill cups with saki, or other liquors, to 
present them to passengers, all the while talking and chattering, 
and commendino; their merchandise with a voice loud enough to be 
heard by their next neighbors of the same profession. 

“ The eatables sold at these cook-shops, besides tea, and some¬ 
times saki, are mansie, a sort of round cakes, which they learned to 
make from the Portuguese, as big as common hens’ eggs, and filled 
within with black-bean flower and sugar; cakes of the jelly of a root 
found upon mountains, and cut into round slices, like carrots, and 
roasted; snails, oysters, shell-fish, and other small fish, roasted, 
boiled, or pickled ; Chinese laxa, a thin sort of pap, or paste, 
made of fine wheat flour, cut into small, thin, long slices, and baked; 
all sorts of plants, roots, and sprigs, which the season afibrds, washed 
and boiled in water with salt; innumerable other dishes peculiar 
to this country, made of seeds, powdered roots, and vegetables, 
boiled or baked, dressed in many different ways. 

“ The common sauce for these and other dishes is a little soy, 
as they call it, mixed with saki, or the beer of the country. Sansio 




TEA. 


313 


leaves are laid upon the dish for ornament, and sometimes thin 
slices of fine ginger and lemon-peel. Sometimes tliey put powdered 
ginger, saiisio, or the powder of some root growing in the country, 
into the soup. They are also provided with sweet-meats, of several 
different colors and sorts, which, generally speaking, are far more 
agreeable to the eye than pleasing to the taste, being but indiffer¬ 
ently sweetened with sugar, and so tough that one must have good 
teeth to chew them. Foot travellers find it set down in their 
printed road-books, which they always carry about them, where, 
and at what price, the best victuals of the kind are to be got. 

“ Tea (since most travellers drink scarce anything else upon the 
road) is sold-at all the inns and cook-shops, besides many tea-booths 
set up for this trade alone, in the midst of fields and w^oods, and at 
the tops of mountains. The tea sold at all these places is but a 
coarse sort, being only the largest leaves, which remain upon the 
shrub after the youngest and tenderest have been plucked off”, at 
two different times, for the use of people of fashion, who constantly 
drink it, before or after their meals. These larger leaves are not 
rolled up and curled, as the better sort of tea is, but simply roasted 
in a pan, and continually stirred whilst they are roasting, lest they 
should get a burnt taste. When they are done enough, they put 
them by in straw baskets, under the roof of the house, near the 
place where the smoke comes out. They are not a bit nicer in pre¬ 
paring it for drinking, for they commonly take a good handful of 
the tea leaves, and boil them in a large iron kettle full of water. 
The leaves are sometimes put into a small bag; but, if not, they have 
a little basket swimming in the kettle, which they make use of to 
keep the leaves down, when they have a mind to take out some of 
the clear decoction. Half a cup of this decoction is mixed with 
cold water, wdien travellers ask for it. Tea thus prepared smells 
and tastes like lye — the leaves it is made of, besides that they are 
of a very bad sort, being seldom less than a year old; and yet the 
Japanese esteem it much more healthful for daily use than the 
young, tender leaves, prepared after the Chinese manner, which 
they say affect the head too strongly, though even these lose a great 
part of their narcotic quality when boiled.”* 

* Tlie most recent visitors to Japan all agree in representing the common 
tea of the country as an inferior article, not suited for exportation. 

27 






CHAPTER XXXIII. 


NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON THE ROAD. -PRINCELY RETINUES.-PILGRIMS TO 

ISJE.-SIUNSE PILGRIMS.-NAKED DEVOTEES.-RELIGIOUS BEGGARS. 

BEGGING ORDER OF NUNS.-JAMABO, OR MOUNTAIN PRIESTS.-BUDDHIST 

BEGGARS.-SINGULAR BELL-CHIMING.-HUCKSTERS AND PEDLERS.-COUR¬ 

TESANS. 

“ It is scarce credible,” says Kiimpfer, “ what numbers of people 
daily travel in this country; and I can assure the reader, from my 
own experience, having passed it four times, that Tokaido, which 
is, indeed, the most frequented of the seven great roads in Japan, 
is upon some days more crowded than the public streets in any of 
the most populous towns in Europe. This is owing partly’to the 
country’s being extremely populous, partly to the frequent journeys 
which the natives undertake, oftener than perhaps any other people. 

“ It is the duty of the princes and lords of the empire, as also of 
the governors of the imperial cities and crown lands, to go to court 
once a year to pay their homage and respect. They are attended, 
going up and returning, by their whole court, and travel with a 
pomp and magnificence, becoming as well their own quality and 
riches as the majesty of the powerful monarch whom they are going 
to see. The train of some of the most eminent fills up the road for 
some days. Though we travelled pretty fast, yet we often met the 
baggage and fore-runners, consisting of the servants and inferior 
officers, for two days together, dispersed in several troops, and the 
prince himself followed but the third day, attended with his numer¬ 
ous court, all marching in admirable order. The retinue of one of 
the chief Daimios, as they are called, is computed to amount to 
about twenty thousand men, more or less; that of a Seiomio to 
about ten thousand; that of a governor of the imperial cities and 


PRINCELY RETINUES. 


315 


crown lands to from one to several hundreds, according to his 
quality or revenues.* 

“ If two or more of these princes and lords should chance to 
travel the same road, at the same time, they would prove a great 
hindrance to one another, particularly if they should happen to 
meet at the same post-house, or village; to prevent which, it is 
usual for great princes and lords to bespeak the several post-houses 
by which they are to pass, with all the inns, those of the first qual¬ 
ity a month, others a week or two, before their arrival. The time 
of their intended arrival is also notified in all the cities, villages, 
and hamlets, by putting up small boards on high poles of bamboo, 
signifying in a few characters what day of the month such or such 
a lord will be at that village, to d-ine or to sleep there. 

Numerous troops of fore-runners, harbingers, clerks, cooks, and 
other inferior officers, go before to provide lodgings, victuals, and 
other things necessary for the entertainment of their prince and 
master, and his court. They are followed by the prince’s heavy 
baggage, packed up either in small trunks, as already described, 
and carried upon horses, each with a banner, bearing the coat-of- 
arms and the name of the possessor, or else in large chests, covered 
with red lackered leather, again with the possessor’s coat-of-arms, 
and carried upon men’s shoulders, with multitudes of inspectors to 
look after them. Next come great numbers of smaller retinues, 
belonging to tlie chief officers and noblemen attending the prince, 
with pikcvs, seymitars, bows and arrows, umbrellas, palanquins, led 
horses, and other marks of their grandeur, suitable to their birth, 
quality, and office. Some of these are carried in norimons, others 
in kangos, others go on horseback. 

* These great retinues are thus accounted for by Thunberg : “ As both 
the monarch himself and all the princes of the country are clothed and dress 
their hair in the same manner as the rest of the inhabitants, and being des¬ 
titute of thrones, jewels, and other like paraphernalia, cannot be so distin¬ 
guished from others, they have adopted the expedient of exhibiting them¬ 
selves on journeys and festive occasions according to their condition in life, 
and the dignity of their respective offices, with a great number of people, 
officers, and attendants, hovering about them.” The statement already 
quoted from Caron — see ante, p. 199 — as to the nunfters composing these 
princely retinues, is much less than that given above, and probably nearer 
the truth. 



316 


JAPAN. — A. D. lOOO—lOyi. 


“ The prince’s own numerous train, marching in an admirable 
and curious order, is divided into several troops, each headed bj a 
proper commanding officer, as, 1. Five, more or less, fine horses, 
each led by two grooms, one on each side, two footmen walking 
behind. 2. Five or six, and sometimes more, porters, lachly clad, 
walking one by one, and carrying lackered chests, and japanned 
neat trunks and baskets, upon their shoulders, wherein are kept the 
wearing apparel and other necessaries for the daily use of the 
prince, each porter attended by two footmen. 3. Ten or more 
fellows, walking one by one, and carrying rich scymitars, pikes of 
state, fire-arms, and other weapons, in lackered wooden cases, as, 
also, quivers with boAvs and arroAvs. Sometimes, for magnificence 
sake, there are more chest-bearers and led horses fblloAving this 
troop. 4. Tavo, three, or more men, Avho carry pikes of state, as 
the badges of the prince’s poAver and authority, adorned at the 
upper end Avith bunches of cock feathers, or other ornaments pecu¬ 
liar to such or such a prince. They Avalk one by one, and are 
attended each by two footmen. 5. A gentleman, attended by tAvo 
footmen, carrying the prince’s hat, worn as a shelter from the heat 
of the sun, and which is coA^ered Avith black velvet. 6. A gen¬ 
tleman carrying the prince’s sombrero, or umbrella, Avhich is covered 
in like manner Avith black A'Ch'et, this person also attended by tAvo 
footmen. 7. Some more bearers of trunks, covered Avith varnished 
leather, with the prince’s coat-of-arms upon them, each Avith tAvo 
men to take care of it. 8. Sixteen, more or less, of the prince’s 
pages, and gentlemen of his bed-chamber, taken out from among 
the first quality of his court, ricldy clad, and Avalking tAVO and tAVO 
before his norimon. 0. The prince himself, sitting in a stately 
norimon, carried by six or eight men, clad in rich liA^eries, Avith 
scA^eral others Avalking at the norimon’s sides, to take it up by 
turns; also, tAvo or three gentlemen of the prince’s bed-chamber, to 
give him what he wants and asks for, and to assist and support 
him in getting in or out. 10. Two or three horses of state, the 
saddles coA’^cred with black. One of these horses carries a large 
elboAV'Chair, Avhich is sometimes covered Avith black veh^et. These 
horses are attended each by several grooms and footmen in liA^eries, 
and some are led by the prince’s OAvn pages. 11. Tavo pike-bear¬ 
ers. 12. Ten or more people, carrying each Iavo baskets of a 




PRINCETA' RETINUES. 


317 


monstrous size, fixed to the ends of a pole, which they lay on their 
shoulders in such a manner that one basket hangs down before and 
the other behind them. These baskets are more for state than for 
any use. Sometimes some chest-bearers walk among them, to 
increase the troop. In this order marches the prince’s own train, 
which is followed by six to twelve led horses with their leaders, 
grooms and footmen, all in liveries. The procession is closed by a 
multitude of the prince’s domestics and other ofiicers of his court, 
with their own numerous trains and attendants, pike-bearers, chest- 
bearers and footmen, in liveries. Some of these are carried in kan- 
gos, and the whole troop is headed by the prince’s high-steward, 
carried in a norimon. If one of the prince’s sons accompanies his 
father in this journey to court, he follows with his own train imme¬ 
diately after his father’s norimon. 

“ It is a sight exceedingly curious and worthy of admiration, to 
see all the persons who compose the numerous train of a great 
prince, clad, the pike-bearers, the norimon-men and livery-men only 
excepted, in black silk, marching in an elegant order, with a decent, 
becoming gravity, and keeping so profound a silence, that not the 
least noise is to be heard, save what must necessarily arise from the 
motion and rushing of their dresses, and the trampling of the horses 
and men. On the other hand, it appears ridiculous to an European 
to see all the pike-bearers and norimon-men, with their clothes 
tucked up above their waists, exposing their nakedness to the spec¬ 
tators’ view, with only a piece of cloth about their loins. What 
appears still more odd and whimsical is to see the pages, pike-bear¬ 
ers, umbrella and hat bearers, chest-bearers, and all the footmen in 
liveries, affect, when they pass through some remarkable town, or 
by the train of another prince or lord, a strange mimic march or 
dance. Every step they make, they draw up one foot quite to 
their backs, stretching out the arm on the opposite side as far as 
they can, and putting themselves in such a posture, as if they had a 
mind to swim through the air. Meanwhile the pikes, hats, umbrel¬ 
las, chests, boxes, baskets, and whatever else they carry, are danced 
and tossed about in a very singular manner, answering to the mo¬ 
tion of their bodies. The norimon-men, who have their sleeves 
tied with a string as near the shoulders as possible, so as to leave 
their arms naked, carry the pole of the norimon either upon their 
27 # 




818 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


shoulders, or else upon the palms of their hands, holding it above 
their heads. Whilst they hold it up with one arm, they stretch out 
the other, putting the hand into a horizontal posture, whereby, and 
by their short, deliberate steps and stiff knees, they affect a ridicu¬ 
lous fear and circumspection. If the prince steps out of his nori- 
mon into one of the green huts which ai-e purposely built for him 
at convenient distances on the road, or if he goes into a private 
house, either to drink a dish of tea or for any other purpose, he 
always leaves a kobang with the landlord as a reward for his 
trouble. At dinner or supper the expense is much greater. 

“ All the pilgrims who go to Isje, whatever province of the 
empire they come from, must travel over part of this great road. 
This pilgTimage is made at all times of the year, but particularly in 
the spring, at which season vast multitudes of these pilgrims are 
seen upon the roads. The Japanese of both sexes, young and old, 
rich and poor, undertake this meritorious journey, generally speak¬ 
ing, on foot, in order to obtain, at this holy place, indulgences 
and remission of their sins. Some of these pilgrims are so poor, 
that they must live wholly upon what they get by begging. On 
this account, and by reason of their great number, they are exceed¬ 
ingly troublesome to the princes and lords, who at that time of the 
year go to court, or come thence, though otherwise they address 
themselves in a very civil manner, bareheaded, and with a low, sub¬ 
missive voice, saying, ‘ Great Lord, be pleased to give the poor 
pilgrim a seni, towards the expense of his journey to Isje,’ or words 
to that effect. Of all the Japanese, the inhabitants of Jedo and 
the province Osju are the most inclined to this pilgrimage. Chil¬ 
dren, if apprehensive of severe punishment for their misdemeanors, 
will run away from their parents and go to Isje, thence to fetch an 
Ofarri, or indulgence, which upon their return is deemed a suf¬ 
ficient expiation of their crimes, and a sure means to reconcile 
them to their friends. Multitudes of these pilgrims are obliged 
to pass whole nights, lying in the open fields, exposed to all 
the injuries of wind and weather, some for want of room in inns, 
others out of poverty; and of these last many are found dead upon 
the road, in which case their Ofarri, if they have any about them, 
is carefully taken up and hid in the next tree or bush. 

“ Others make this pilgrimage in a comical and merry way, draw- 





PILGRIM BEGGARS. 


810 


ing people’s eyes upon them, as well as getting their money. They 
form themselves into companies, generally of four persons, clad in 
white linen, after the fashion of the Kuge, or persons of the holy 
ecclesiastical court of the Dairi. Two of them walking a grave, 
slow, deliberate pace, and standing often still, carry a large barrow, 
adorned and hung about with fir-branches and cut v/hite paper, on ^ 
which they place a resemblance of a large bell, made of light sub¬ 
stance, or a kettle, or something else, alluding to some old romantic 
history of their gods and ancestors; whilst a third, with a com¬ 
mander’s staff in his hand, adorned, out of respect to his ofiace, with 
a bunch of white paper, walks, or rather dances, before the barrow, 
singing with a dull, heavy Voice, a song relating to the subject 
they are about to represent. Meanwhile, the fourth goes begging 
before the houses, or addresses himself to charitable travellers, and 
receives and keeps the money which is given them. Their day’s 
journeys are so short, that they can easily spend the whole summer 
upon such an expedition. 

“ The Siunse, another remarkable sight travellers meet with upon 
the roads, are people, who go to visit in pilgrimage the thirty-three 
chief Quanwon temples, which lie dispersed throughout the empire. 
They commonly travel two or three together, singing a miserable 
Quanwon-song from house to house, and sometimes playing upon a 
fiddle, or upon a guitar, as vagabond beggars do in Germany. 
However, they do not importune travellers for their charity. Tliey 
have the names of such Quanwon temples as they have not yet 
visited writ upon a small board hanging about their necks. They 
are clad in white, after a very singular fashion, peculiar only to this 
sect. Some people like so well to ramble about the country after 
this manner that they will apply themselves to no other trade and 
profession, but choose to end their days in this perpetual pil¬ 
grimage. 

“ Sometimes one meets with very odd sights; as, for instance, 
people running naked along the roads in the hardest frosts, wear¬ 
ing only a little straw about their waists. These people generally 
undertake so extraordinary and troublesome a journey to visit cer¬ 
tain temples, pursuant to religious vows, which they promised to ful¬ 
fil in case they should obtain, from the bounty of their gods, deliver¬ 
ance from some fatal distemper, they themselves, their parents or 



320 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1690—1692. 


relations, labor under, or from some other great misfortunes they 
were threatened with. They live very poorly and miserably upon 
the road, receive no charity, and proceed on their journey by them¬ 
selves, almost perpetually running. 

“ Multitudes of beggars crowd the roads in all parts of the 
empire, but particularly on the so much frequented Tokaido, 
* among them many lusty young felloAVS, who shave their heads. 
To this shaved begging tribe belongs a certain remarkable religious 
order of young girls, called Bikuni, which is as much as to say, 
nuns. They live under the protection of the nunneries at Kama¬ 
kura and Miako, to which they pay a certain sum a year, of what 
they get by begging, as an acknowledgment of their authorit}’’. 
They are, in my opinion, by much the handsomest girls we saw in 
Japan. The daughters of poor parents, if they be handsome and 
agreeable, apply for and easily obtain this privilege of begging in 
the habit of nuns, knowing that beauty is one of the most persuasive 
inducements to generosity. The Jamabo, or begging mountain 
priests (of whom more hereafter), frequently incorporate their own 
daughters into this religious order, and take their wives from among 
these Bikuni. Some of them have been bred up as courtesans, and 
having served their time, buy the privilege of entering into this 
religious order, therein to spend the remainder of their youth and 
beauty. They live two or three together, and make an excursion 
every day some few miles from their dwelling-house. Tliey partic¬ 
ularly watch people of fashion, who travel in norimons, or in kangos, 
or on horseback. As soon as they perceive somebody coming they 
draw near and address themselves, though not all together, but singly, 
every one accosting a gentleman by herself singing a rural song; 
and if he proves very liberal and charitable, she will keep him com¬ 
pany and divert him for some hours. As, on the one hand, very 
little religious blood seems to circulate in their veins, so, on the 
other, it doth not appear that they labor under any considerable 
degree of poverty. It is true, indeed, they conform themselves to 
the rules of their order, by shaving their heads, but they take care 
to cover and to wrap them up in caps or hoods made of black silk. 
They go decently and neatly dressed, after the fashion of ordinary 
people. They wear also a large hat to cover their faces, which are 
often painted, and to shelter themselves from the heat of the sun. 




JAM ABO. 


321 


They commonly have a shepherd’s rod or hook in their hands. 
Their voice, gestures, and apparent behavior, are neither too bold 
and daring, nor too much dejected and atFccted, but free, comely 
and seemingly modest. However, not to extol their modesty 
beyond what it deserves, it must be observed, that they make noth¬ 
ing of laying their bosoms quite bare to the view of charitable trav¬ 
ellers, all the wdiile they keep them company, under pretence of its 
being customary in the country; and, for aught I know, they may 
be, though never so religiously shaved, full as impudent and lasciv¬ 
ious as any public courtesan. 

“ Another religious begging order is that of the Jamabo, as 
they are commonly called ; that is, the mountain priests, or rather 
Jamabuo^ mountain soldiers, because at all times they go armed 
with swords and scyraitars. They do not shave their heads, but fol¬ 
low the rules of the first founder of this order, who mortified his 
body by climbing up steep, high mountains; at least, they conform 
themselves thereunto in their dress, apparent behavior, and some 
outward ceremonies; for they are fallen short of liis rigorous way 
of life. They have a head, or general, of their order, residing at 
Miako, to whom they are obliged to bring a certain sum of money 
every year, and who has the distribution of dignities and of titles, 
whereby they are known among themselves. They commonly live 
in the neighborhood of some fiimous Kami temple, and accost 
travellers in the name of that Kami which is worshipped there, 
making a short discourse of his holiness and miracles, with a 
loud, coarse voice. Meanwhile, "to make the noise still louder, they 
rattle their long staffs, loaded at the upper end with iron rings, to 
take up the charity money which is given them; and, last ot all, 
they blow a trumpet made of a large shell. They carry their chil¬ 
dren along with them upon the same begging errand, clad like their 
fathers, but with their heads shaved. These little bastards are 
exceedingly troublesome and importunate with travellers, and com¬ 
monly take care to light on them, as they are going up some hill or 
mountain, where, because of the difficult ascent, they cannot well 
escape, nor indeed otherwise get rid of them without giving them 
something. In some places they and their fathers accost travellers 
in company with a troop of Bikuni, and, with their rattling, sing¬ 
ing, trumpeting, chattering and crying, make such a frightful noise, 



322 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


as would make one almost mad or deaf. These mountain priests 
are frequently applied to by superstitious people, for conjuring, for¬ 
tune-telling, foretelling future events, recovering lost goods, and the 
like purposes. They profess themselves to be of the Kami religion, 
as established of old, and yet they are never suffered to attend, or 
to take care of, any of the Kami temples. 

“ There are many more beggars travellers meet with along the 
roads. Some of these are old, and, in all appearance, honest men, 
who, the better to prevail upon people to part with tlieir charity, 
are shaved and clad after the fashion of the Budsdo priests. Some¬ 
times there are two of them standing together, each with a small, 
oblong book before him. This book contains part of their Fokekio, 
or Bible, printed in the significant or learned language.* However, 
I would not have the reader think, as if they themselves had any 
understanding in that language, or know how to read the book 
placed before them. They only learn some part of it by heart, and 
speak it aloud, looking towards the book, as if they did actu¬ 
ally read in it, and expecting something from their hearers, as a 
reward for their trouble. 

“ Others are found sitting near some river, or running water, 
making a Siegaki^ —a certain ceremony for the relief of departed 
souls. This Siegaki is made after the following manner: They 
take a green branch of the Fauna Skvnmi tree, and, murmuring 
certain words with a low voice, wash and scour it with some shav¬ 
ings of wood, whereon they had written the names of some deceased 
persons. This they believe to contribute greatly to relieve and 
refresh the departed souls confined in purgatory; and, for aught I 
know, it may answer that purpose full as well as any number 
of masses, as they are celebrated to the same end in Boman 
Catholic countries. Any person that hath a mind to purchase the 
benefit of this washing, for himself or his relations and friends, 
throws a seni upon the mat, which is spread out near the beg¬ 
gar, who does not so much as offer to return him any manner of 
thanks for it, thinking his art and devotion deserve still better; 
besides that, it is not customary amongst beggars of note to 
thank people for their charity. Any one who hath learned the 


* This is the Sanscrit. 



PILGRIM BEGGARS. 


323 


proper ceremonies necessary to make the Siegaki, is at liberty to 
do it. 

“ Others of this tribe, who make up far the greater part, sit 
upon the road all day long, upon a small, coarse mat. They have 
a flat bell, like a broad mortar, lying before them, and do nothing 
else but repeat, with a lamentable singing tune, the word Namada^ 
which is contracted from Namu Amida Budsu, a short form of 
prayer wherewith they address Amida, as the patron and advocate 
of departed souls. Meanwhile they beat almost continually with a 
small wooden hammer upon the aforesaid bell, and this, they say, 
in order to be the sooner heard by Amida, and, I am apt to think, 
not without an intent too to be the better taken notice of by pas¬ 
sengers. 

“ Another sort we met with as we went along were differently 
clad, some in an ecclesiastical, others in a secular habit. These stood 
in the fields, next to the road, and commonly had a sort of altar 
standing before them, upon which they placed the idol of their 
Briareus, or Quanwon, as they call him, carved in wood, and gilt; 
or the pictures of some other idols, scurvily done, as, for instance, 
the picture of Amida, the supreme judge of departed souls; of 
Semaus, or the head-keeper of the prison, whereunto the con¬ 
demned souls are confined; of Dsisoo, or the supreme commander 
in the purgatory of children, and some others, wherewith, and by 
some representations of the flames and torments prepared for the 
wicked in a future world, they endeavor to stir up in passengers 
compassion and charity. 

“ Other beggars, and these, to all appearance, honest enough, 
are met sitting along the road, clad much after the same manner 
with the Quanwon beggars, with a Dsisoo stafif- in their hand. These 
have made vow not to speak during a certain time, and express 
their want arid desire only by a sad, dejected, woeful countenance.* 

“ Not to mention numberless other common beggars, some sick, 
some stout and lusty enough, who get people’s charity by praying, 
singing, playing upon fiddles, guitars, and other musical instru- 

* The letters of the Jesuit missionaries contain accounts of Buddhist devotees 
who went so far as to drown or otherwise destroy themselves. Kampfer, 
and the writers since his time, make no mention of such extreme fanaticism, 
which, however, is a natural outgrowth from the doctrine of the Buddhists. 



324 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


merits, or performing some juggler’s tricks, I will close the account 
of this vermin with an odd, remarkable sort of a beggar’s music, or 
rather chime of bells, we sometimes, but rarely, met with in our 
journey to court. A young boy, with a sort of a wooden machine 
pendent from his neck, and a rope, with eight strings about it, 
from which hang down eight bells, of ditferent sounds, turns round 
in a circle, with a swiftness scarce credible, in such a manner 
that both the machine, which rests upon his shoulders, and the 
bells, turn round with him horizontally, the boy, in the mean while, 
with great dexterity and quickness, beating tliem with two ham¬ 
mers, makes a strange, odd sort of a melody. To increase the 
noise, two people sitting near him beat, one upon a large, the 
other upon a smaller drum. Those who are pleased with their 
performance throw them some seni as they pass.* 

“ The crowd and throng upon the roads is not a little increased 
by numberless small retail merchants, and children of country 
people, who run about from morning to night, following travellers, 
and offering them for sale their poor, for the most part eatable, 
merchandise — such as several cakes and sweetmeats, wherein the 
quantity of sugar is so inconsiderable that it is scarce perceptible, 
other cakes, of different sorts, made of flour, roots boiled in water 
and salt, road-books, straw-shoes for horses and men, ropes, strings, 
tooth-pickers, and a multitude of other trifles, made of wood, straw, 
reed, and bamboos. 

* Great numbers of the Japanese musicians, as Kiimpfer tells us in 
another place, are blind men, who constitute a sort of order or society, 
which boasts as its legendary founder a certain general, of the family of the 
Fciji, who, at the time of the civil war which ended in the desti’uction of that 
family, was taken prisoner by Joritomo. Notwithstanding repeated attempts 
at escape, he was very kindly treated, and was pressed to enter into the 
service of his captor. But, not being able to look upon the destroyer of 
the Feiji without an irresistible desii’e to kill him, not to be outdone in gen¬ 
erosity, he plucked out his eyes and pi-esented them to Joritomo on a plate ! 

There is another — more ancient, but less numerous — order of the blind, 
composed exclusively of ecclesiastical persons, and claiming as its founder a 
legendary prince, who cried himself blind at the death of his beautiful 
mistress. 

The blind are numerous, and disordei’s of the eyes are very common in 
Japan. 





COURTESANS. 


325 


Nor must I forget to take notice of the numberless wenches 
the great and small inns and the tea-booths and cook-shops in 
villages and hamlets are furnished withal. About noon, when they 
have done dressing and painting themselves, they make their ap¬ 
pearance, standing under the door of the house, or sitting upon the 
small gallery around it, whence, with a smiling countenance and good 
words, they invite the travelling troops that pass by to call in at their 
inn, preferably to others. In some places, where there are several 
inns standing near one another, they make, with their chattering and 
rattling, no inconsiderable noise, and prove not a little troublesome. 

“ I cannot forbear mentioning in this place a small mistake of 
Mr. Caron, in his account of Japan, where he shows so tender a 
regard for the honor of the Japanese sex (perhaps out of respect to 
his lady, who was a Japan woman) as to assert that, except in the 
privileged houses devoted to it, this trade is not elsewhere carried 
on. It is unquestionably true that there is hardly a public inn 
upon the great island Nipon, but what is provided with courtesans, 
and if too many customers resort to one place, the neighboring inn¬ 
keepers will lend their wenches, on condition that what money they 
get shall be faithfully paid them. Nor is it a new custom come 
up but lately, or since Mr. Caron’s time. On the contrary, it is 
of very old date, and took its rise, as the Japanese say, many hun¬ 
dred years ago, in the times of that brave general and first secular 
monarch, Joritomo, who, apprehensive lest his soldiers, weary of 
his long and tedious expeditions, and desirous to return home to 
their wives and children, should desert his army, thought it much 
more advisable to indulge them in this particular.” 

28 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 


DEPARTURE FROM NAGASAKI. — TRAIN OF THE DUTCH. — THE DAY’S JOURNEY. 

-TREATMENT OF THE DUTCH.-RESPECT SHOWN THEM IN THE ISLAND OP 

XIMO.-CARE WITH WHICH THEY ARE WATCHED.-INNS AT WHICH THEY 

LODGE.-THEIR RECEPTION AND TREATMENT THERE.-POLITENESS OF THE 

JAPANESE.-LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS.-SEIMEI, THE ASTROLOGER. 

“ All the princes, lords, and vassals of the Japanese empire 
being obliged,” says Kiimpfer, “ to make their appearance at court 
once a year, it hath been determined by the emperor what time 
and what day they are to set out on their journey. The same is 
observed with regard to the Dutch, and the fifteenth or sixteenth 
day of the first Japanese month, which commonly falls in with the 
middle of our February, hath been fixed for our constant dejiarture. 
Towards that time we get everything ready to set out, having first 
sent by sea, as already mentioned, to the city of Simonoseki the 
presents we are to make, sorted and carefully packed, together 
with the other heavy baggage, and the victuals and kitchen furni¬ 
ture for our future travels. Three or four weeks after, and a few 
days before our departure, our president, attended with his usual 
train, goes to visit the two governors of Nagasaki, at they* palaces, 
to take his leave of them, and to recommend the Dutch who re¬ 
main in our factory to their favor and protection. The next day, 
all the goods and other things which must be carried along with 
us are marked — every bale or trunk — with a small board, where¬ 
upon is writ the possessor’s name, and the contents. The day of 
our departure, all the ofiieers of our island, and all persons who 
are any ways concerned with our affairs, particularly the future 
companions of our voyage, come over to Desima early in the morn¬ 
ing. They are followed soon after by both governors, attended 
with their whole numerous court, or else by their deputies, who 
come to wish us a good" journey. The governors — or their depu- 


DUTCH JOURNEY TO COURT. 


327 


ties — having been entertained as usual upon this occasion, and 
taken their leave, are by us accompanied out of our island, which 
is done commonly about nine in the morning, at which time, also, 
we set out on our journey. The Bugio, or commander-in-chief, of 
our train, and the Dutch president, enter their norimons. The 
chief interpreter, if he be old, is carried in an ordinary kango; 
others mount on horseback, and the servants go afoot. All the 
Japanese officers of our island, and several friends and acquaint¬ 
ances of our Japanese companions, keep us company out of the 
town so far as the next inn. 

“Our train is not the same in the three several parts of our 
journey. Over the island Kiusiu, it may amount, with all the 
servants and footmen, as, also, the gentlemen whom the lords of 
the several provinces we pass through send to compliment us, and 
to keep us company during our stay in their dominions, to about 
an hundred persons. In our voyage by sea it is not much less, all 
the sailors and watermen taken in. In the last part, over the great 
island Nipon, from Osaka to Jedo, it is considerably greater, and 
consists of no less than an hundred and fifty people, and this, by 
reason of the presents and other goods which came from Naga¬ 
saki, as far as Osaka by sea, but must now be taken out and carried 
by land to Jedo, by horses and men. 

“ All our heavy baggage is commonly sent away some hours 
before we set out ourselves, lest it should be a hindrance to us, as, 
also, to give timely notice to our landlords of our arrival. We 
set out early in the morning, and, save only one hour for dinner, 
travel till evening, and, sometimes, till late at night, making from 
ten to thirteen Japanese leagues a day. In our voyage by sea, we 
put into some harbor, and come to an anchor every night, advanc¬ 
ing forty Japanese water-leagues a day at farthest. 

“We are better treated, and more honorably received, in our 
journey over Kiusiu than upon the great island Nipon, though 
everywhere we have much more civility shown us by the inhabi¬ 
tants of the cities and districts through which we pass, than by our 
Nagasakian companions, and our own servants, who eat our bread 
and travel at our expense. In our journey across the island Kiu¬ 
siu, we receive nearly the same honors and civility from the lords 
of the several provinces we pass through, as they show to travelling 



328 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


princes and their retinues. The roads are swept and cleaned before 
us, and in cities and villages they are watered to lay the dust. 
The common people, laborers and idle spectators, who are so very 
troublesome to travellers upon the great island Nipon, are kept out 
of the way, and the inhabitants of the houses on either side of the 
roads and streets see us go by, either sitting in the back part of 
their houses, or kneeling in the fore part, behind a screen, with 
creat respect and in a profound silence. All the princes and lords, 
W'hose dominions we are to pass through, send one of their noble¬ 
men to compliment us, as soon as we enter upon their territories; 
but, as he is not suffered to address us in person, he makes his com¬ 
pliment in his master’s name to the Bugio, or commander-in-chief 
of our train, and to the chief interpreter, offering, at the same time, 
what horses and men we want for us and our baggage. He like¬ 
wise orders four footmen to walk by every Dutchman’s side, and 
two gentlemen of some note at his court, who are clad in black silk, 
with staffs in their hands, to precede the whole train. After this 
manner they lead us through their master’s territories, and, when 
we come to the limits thereof, the Japanese companions of our 
voyage are treated with saki and socano, and so they take their 
leave. For our passage over the bays of Omura, and SinidbcLTO,, 
the lords of these two places lend us their own pleasure-barges, and 
their own watermen, besides that they furnish us with abundance 
of provisions, without expecting even so much as a small present in 
return for their civil and courteous behavior; and yet our thievish 
interpreters never miss to lay hold of this advantage, putting this 
article upon our accounts as if we had actually been at the expense; 
and they commonly put the money into their own pockets. In our 
whole journey from Nagasaki to Kokura, everybody we meet with 
shows us and our train that deference and respect which is due only 
to the princes and lords of the country. Private travellers, whether 
they travel on foot or on horseback, must retire out of the way — 
those who hesitate about it being compelled to it by the officers 
— and, bareheaded, humbly bowing, wait in the next field till our 
whole retinue is gone by. I took notice of some country people, 
who do not only retire out of the way, but turn us their back, as 
not worthy to behold us — the greatest mark of civility a J apanese 
can possibly show. None, or but few, of these public marks of 




INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY. 


329 


honor and respect are shown us in our journey over the great island 
Nipon. 

“ As to what concerns our accommodation on the road, the same 
is — with regard to the carriage of us and of our baggage, the 
number of horses and men provided for that purpose, the inns, lodg¬ 
ings, eating, and attendance — as good for our money as we could 
possibly desire. But, on the other hand, if we consider the narrow 
compass allowed us, we have too much reason to complain; for we 
are treated in a manner like prisoners, deprived of all liberty, ex¬ 
cepting that of looking about the country from our horses, or out 
of our kangos, which, indeed, it is impossible for them to deny us. 
As soon as a Dutchman alights from his horse (which is taken very 
ill, unless urgent necessity obliges him), he that rides before our 
train, and the whole train after him, must stop suddenly, and the 
Dosiu and two other attendants must come down from their horses 
to take immediate care of him. Nay, they watch us to that degree 
that they will not leave us alone, not even for the most necessary 
occasions. The Bugio, or commander-in-chief of our train, studies 
day and night, not only the contents of his instructions, but the 
journals of two or three preceding journeys, in order exactly, and 
step by step, to follow the actions and behavior of his predecessors. 
’T is looked upon as the most convincing proof of his faithfulness 
and good conduct still to exceed them. Nay, some of these block¬ 
heads are so capricious that no accident wdiatever can oblige them 
to go to any other inns but those we had been at the year before, 
even though we should, upon this account, be forced in the worst 
weather, with the greatest inconveniency, and at the very peril of 
our lives, to travel till late at night. 

“We go to the same inns which the princes and lords of the 
country resort to, that is, to the very best of every place. The 
apartments are at that time hung with the colors and arms of the 
Dutch East India Company, and this in order to notify to the 
neighborhood who they be that lodge there, as is customary in the 
country. We always go to the same inns, with this difference only, 
that, upon our return from Jedo, we lie at the place we dined at in 
going up, by this means equally to divide the trouble, which is 
much greater at night than at dinner. We always take up our 
lodging in the back apartment of the house, which is by much the 
28 * 



330 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


pleasantest; also otherwise, as has been mentioned, reckoned the 
chief. The landlord observes the same customs upon our arrival, 
as upon the arrival of the princes and lords of the empire. He 
comes out of the town or village into the fields to meet us, clad in a 
kamisimo, or garment of ceremony, and wearing a short scymetar stuck 
in his girdle, making his compliments with a low bow, which before 
the norimons of the Bugio and our Besident is so low, that he 
touches the ground with his hands and almost with his forehead. 
This done, he hastens back to his house, and receives us at the 
entry a second time, in the same manner, and with the same com¬ 
pliments. 

“ As soon as we are come to the inn, our guardians and keepers 
carry us forthwith across the house to our apartments. Nor, indeed, 
are we so much displeased at this, since the number of spectators 
and the petulant scofiing of the children, but, above all, the exhaus¬ 
tion of a fatiguing journey, make us desirous to take our rest, the 
sooner the better. We are, as it were, confined to our apartments, 
having no other liberty but to walk out into the small garden behind 
the house. All other avenues, all the doors, windows and holes, 
which open any prospect towards the streets or country, are care¬ 
fully shut and nailed up, in order, as they would fain persuade us, 
to defend us and our goods from thieves, but in fact to watch and 
guard us as thieves and deserters. It must be owned, however, 
that this superabundant care and watchfulness is considerably less¬ 
ened upon our return, when we have found means to insinuate our¬ 
selves into their favor, and by presents and otherwise to procure 
their connivance. 

“ The Bugio takes possession of the best apartment after ours. 
The several rooms next to our own are taken up by the Dosiu, 
interpreters and other chief officers of our retinue, in order to be 
always near at hand to watch our conduct, and to care that none 
of our landlord’s domestics nor any other person presume to come 
into our apartment, unless it be by their leave and in their pres¬ 
ence ; and in their absence they commit this care to some of their 
own or our servants; though all the companions of our voyage in 
general are strictly charged to have a watchful eye over us. Those 
who exceed their fellow-servants in vigilance are, by way of encour- 




RECEPTION AT THE INNS. 


331 


agement, permitted to make the journey again the next year. 
Otherwise they stand excluded for two years. 

“As soon as we have taken possession of our apartment, in 
comes the landlord with some of his chief male domestics, 
each with a dish of tea in his hand, which they present to every 
one of us with a low bow, according to his rank and dignity, 
and repeating, with a submissive, deep-fetched voice, the words, 
ah ! ah! ah! They are all clad in their garments of ceremony, 
which they wear only upon great occasions, and have each a 
short scymetar stuck in his girdle, which they never quit, 
so long as the company stays in the house. This done, the 
necessary apparatus for smoking is brought in, consisting of a 
board of wood or brass, though not always of the same structure, 
upon which are placed a small fire-pan with coals, a pot to spit in, 
a small box filled with tobacco cut small, and some long pipes with 
small brass heads; as also another japanned board, or dish, with 
Socano* that is, something to eat, as, for instance, several sorts of 
fruits, figs, nuts, several sorts of cakes, chiefly mansie and rice 
cakes hot, several sorts of roots boiled in water, sweetmeats, and 
other trumperies of this kind. All these things are brought first 
into the Bugio’s room, then into ours. As to other necessaries 
travellers may have occasion for, they are generally, in the case of 
native travellers, served by the housemaids. These wenches also 
wait at table, taking that opportunity to engage their guests to 
further favors. But it is quite otherwise with us; for even the 
landlords themselves and their male domestics, after they have pre¬ 
sented us with a dish of tea, as above said, are not sufiered upon 
any account whatever to enter our apartments; but whatever we 
want it is the sole business of our own servants to provide us with. 

“ There are no other spitting-pots brought into the room but that 
which comes along with the tobacco. If there be occasion for 
more they make use of small pieces of bamboo, a hand broad and 
high, sawed from between the joints and hollowed. The can¬ 
dles brought in at night are hollow in the middle ; the wick, which 
is of paper, being wound about a wooden stick before the tallow is 

* Froez, in one of his letters, defines this Japanese word, as signifying a 
kind of salted vegetable, like olives. It seems to include all kinds of refresh¬ 
ments occasionally offered to visitors. 



332 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1690—1692. 


laid on. For this reason, also, the candlesticks have a punch or 
bodkin at top, which the candles are fixed upon. They burn very 
quick, and make a great deal of smoke and smell, the oil or 
tallow being made of the berries of bay-trees, camphor-trees, and 
some others of the kind. It is somewhat odd and ridiculous to see 
the whirling motion of the ascending smoke, followed by the flame, 
when the candle is taken off the punch at the top of the candlestick. 
Instead of lamps, they make use of small, flat, earthen vessels, filled 
with train-oil made of the fat of whales, or of oil made of cotton¬ 
seed. The wick is made of rush, and the abovesaid earthen ves¬ 
sel stands in another filled with water, or in a square-lantern, that, 
in case the oil should by chance take fire, no damage may there¬ 
upon come to the house. 

“ The Japanese, in their journeys, sit down to table thrice a day, 
besides what they eat between meals. They begin early in the morning 
and before break of day, at least before they set out, with a good, 
substantial breakfast; then follows dinner at noon, and the day is 
concluded with a plentiful supper at night. It being forbid to play 
at cards, they sit after meals, drinking and singing some songs, to 
make one another merry, or else they propose some riddles round, 
or play at some other game, and he that cannot explain the riddle, 
or loses the game, is obliged to drink a glass. It is again quite 
otherwise with us, for we sit at table and eat our victuals very 
quietly. Our cloth is laid, and the dishes dressed after the Euro¬ 
pean manner, but by Japanese cooks. We are presented, besides, 
by the landlord, each with a Japanese dish. We drink European 
wines and the rice-beer of the country hot. All our diversion is 
confined, in the day-time, to the small garden which is behind the 
house ; at night to the bath, in case we please to make use of it. 
No other pleasure is allowed us, no manner of conversation with the 
domestics, male or female, excepting what, through the connivance 
of our inspectors, some of us find means to procure at night in pri¬ 
vate and in their own rooms. 

“ When everything is ready for us to set out again, the landlord 
is called, and our president, in presence of the two interpreters, pays 
him the reckoning in gold, laid upon a small salver. He draws 
near, in a creeping posture, kneeling, holding his hands down to the 
floor, and when he takes the salver which the money is laid upon, 



UNIVERSAL POLITENESS. 


333 


he bows down his forehead almost quite to the ground, in token of 
submission and gratitude, uttering with a deep voice the words 
ah I ah! ah! whereby in this country inferiors show their defer¬ 
ence and respect to their superiors. He then prepares to make the 
same compliment to the other Dutchmen ; but our interpreters gen¬ 
erally excuse him this trouble, and make him return in the same 
crawding posture. Every landlord hath two kobangs paid him for 
dinner, and three for supper and lodgings at night. For this 
money he is to provide victuals enough for our whole train, the 
horses, the men that look after them, and the porters, only excepted. 
The same sum is paid to the landlords in the cities, where we stay 
some days, as at Osaka, Miako and Jedo, namely, five kobangs a 
day, without any further recompense. The reason of our being 
kept so cheap, as to victuals and lodging, is because this sum was 
agreed on with our landlords a long while ago, when our train 
was not yet so bulky as it now is.* It is a custom in this coun¬ 
try, which we likewise observe, that guests, before they quit the 
inn, order their servants to sweep the room they lodged in, not to 
leave any dirt, or ungrateful dust, behind them. 

“ From this reasonable behavior of the landlords, the reader may 
judge of the civility of the whole nation in general, always except¬ 
ing our own ofiicers and servants. I must own that, in the visits 
we made or received in our journey, we found the same to be 
greater than could be expected from the most civilized nations. 
The behavior of the Japanese, from the meanest countryman up to 
the greatest prince or lord, is such that the whole empire might be 
called a school of civility and good manners. They have so much 
sense and innate curiosity, that, if they were not absolutely denied a 
free and open conversation and correspondence with foreigners, they 
would receive them with the utmost kindness and pleasure. In 
some towns and villages only we took notice that the young boys, 
who are childish all over the world, would run after us, calling us 
names, and cracking some malicious jests or other, levelled at the 
Chinese, whom they take us to be. One of the most common, and 
not much different from a like sort of a compliment which is com- 

* The total expense of the entire journey, including the presents to the em¬ 
peror and others, is estimated by Kampfer at twenty thousand rix dollars, 
equivalent to about the same number of our dollars. 



334 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1C90—1692. 


monly made to Jews in Germany, is Toosin bay bay? which, in 
broken Chinese, signifies, Chinese, have ye nothing to truck ? 

“ It may not be amiss to observe, that it is not an indifferent 
matter to travellers in this country what day they set out on their 
journey; for they must choose for their departure a fortunate day, 
for which purpose they make use of a particular table, printed in 
all their road-books, which they say hath been observed to hold 
true by a continued experience of many ages, and wherein are set 
down all the unfortunate days of every month. However, the most 
sensible of the Japanese have but little regard for this superstitious 
table, which is more credited by the common people, the mountain 
priests and monks. 

“ To give the more authority to this table, they say that it was 
invented by the astrologer Seimei, a man of great quality and very 
eminent in his art. King Abirw Tassima was his father, and a 
fox his mother, to whom Abino Tassima was married upon the fol¬ 
lowing occasion. He once happened with a servant of his to be in 
the temple of Inari, who is the god and protector of the foxes. 
Meanwhile some courtiers were hunting the fox without doors, in 
order to make use of the lungs for the preparation of a certain 
medicine. It happened upon this that a young fox, pursued by the 
hunters, fled into the temple, which stood open, and took shelter in 
the very bosom of Tassima. The king, unwilling to deliver up the 
poor creature to the unmerciful hunters, was forced to defend him¬ 
self and his fox, and to repel force by force, wherein he behaved 
himself with so much bravery and success that, having defeated the 
hunters, he set the fox at liberty. The hunters, ashamed and highly 
offended at the courageous behavior of the king, seized, in the 
height of their resentment, an opportunity which offered to kill his 
royal father. Tassima mustered up all his courage and prudence 
to revenge his father’s death, and with so much success that he 
killed the traitors with his own hands. The fox, to return his grat¬ 
itude, appeared to him, after the victory which he obtained over 
the murderers of his father, in the shape of a lady of incomparable 
beauty, and so fired his breast with love that he took her to his 
wife. It was by her he had this son, who was endowed with divine 
wisdom, and the precious gift of prognosticating and foretelling 
things to come. Nor did he know that his wife had been that very 




SEIMEI THE ASTROLOGER. 


835 


fox whose life he saved with so much courage in the temple of 
Inari, till, soon after, her tail and other parts beginning to grow, 
she resumed by degrees her former shape.* 

“ Seimei not only calculated the above table by the knowledge he 
had acquired of the motion and influence of the stars, but, as he 
was at the same time a perfect master of the cabalistic sciences, he 
found out certain words which he brought together into an Uta, or 
verse, the repetition of which is believed to have the infallible virtue 
of keeping ofi” all those misfortunes, which, upon the days deter¬ 
mined in the table to be unfortunate, would otherwise befall travel¬ 
lers, — this verse being for the use and satisfaction of poor ordinary 
servants, who have not leisure to accommodate themselves to the 
table, but must go when and wherever they are sent by their mas¬ 
ters.” 

* The fox is regarded by the Japanese as a sort of divinity, though, accord¬ 
ing to Siebold, they seem in doubt whether to reckon it a god or devil. If a 
Japanese is placed in circumstances of doubt or difficulty, he sets out a platter 
of rice and beans as a sacrifice to his fox ; and if the next day any of it is gone, 
that is regarded as a favorable omen. Wonderful stories (equal to any of our 
spirit-rapping miracles) are told of the doings of these foxes. Titsingh gives 
the following by way of specimen : The grandfather of his friend, the imperial 
treasurer of Nagasaki, and who had in his time filled the same office, despatched 
one day a courier to Jedo with very important letters for the councillors of 
state. A few days after he discovered that one of the most important of the 
lettei’s had been accidentally left out of the package — a forgetfulness which 
exposed him to great disgrace. In his despair he recurred to his fox and 
offered him a sacrifice. The next morning he saw, to his great satisfaction, 
that some of it had been eaten ; after which, upon going into his cabinet, 
the letter which he had forgotten to send was nowhere to be found. This 
caused him great uneasiness, till he received a message from his agent at 
Jedo, who informed him that, upon opening the box which contained the 
despatches, the lock of it appeared to have been forced by a letter pressed 
in between the box and its cover from without — the very same letter, as it 
proved, left behind at Nagasaki. The more intelligent, says Titsingh, 
laugh at this superstition, but the great body of the people have firm faith 
in it. There are in Japan, according to Siebold, two species of foxes, very 
much Kke the ordinary ones of Europe and America, and, from the immu¬ 
nity which they enjoy, great nuisances. The white fox, of which the skin is 
much prized, is found only in the Kurule Islands. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 




FROM NAGASAKI TO KOKURA. — SIMONOSEKT. — WATER JOURNEY TO OSAKA. 

-DESCRIPTION OF THAT CITY.-ITS CASTLE.—INTERVIEW WITH TUB 

GOVERNORS.-FROM OSAKA TO MIAKO.-JODO AND ITS CASTLE.-FUSI- 

MI. -ENTRANCE INTO MIAKO.-VISIT TO THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE 

GOVERNORS.-DESCRIPTION OF MIAKO.-PALACE OF THE DAIRI.-CASTLE. 

-MANUFACTURES AND TRADE.-AUTHORITY OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE.- 

POLICE.-CRIMES. 

At coming out of Nagasaki, on his first journey to court (Tues¬ 
day, February 13, 1691), Kampfer noticed the idol Dsisos, the god 
of the roads and protector of travellers, hewn out of the rock in 
nine dilferent places. At the next village stood another of the 
same sort, about three feet in height, on a stone pillar twice as 
high, and adorned with flowers. Two other smaller stone pillars, 
hollow at top, stood before the idol, upon which were placed 
lamps, for travellers to light in its honor; and at some distance 
stood a basin of water, in which to wash the hands before lighting 
the lamps. 

The first twelve miles’ travelling, which was very steep and 
mountainous, brought the company to the shores of the bag of 
Omura, which they found too shallow for vessels of size; but by 
crossing it in boats, furnished by the prince of Omura, each rowed 
by fourteen wmtermen, they saved a distance of ten miles or more. 
The distance across was thirty miles. The town of Omura was 
seen on the right at the head of the bay, and beyond it a smoking 
mountain. The shells of this bay were reported to yield pearls.* 

* Of these pearls Kampfer says, in another place, that they are found 
almost everywhere about Kiusiu in oysters and several other sea shells. 
Everybody is at liberty to fish for them. Formerly the natives had little 
or no value for them till they were sought for by the Chinese. The .Japanese 
pretend, as to one particular kind, that when put into a box full of a 



SANGAj CAPITAL OF EIGEN. 


387 


The second day (\Yednesday, February 14) they passed an old 
camphor-tree, estimated to be thirty-six feet in circumference, and 
hollow within.* At Swot a, where they dined, a seaport on the 
gulf of Simabara, was a manufactory of large earthen pots, used by 
vessels as water-casks, and also of china ware, made of a whitish, 
fat clay, abundant in that neighborhood. The same day they vis¬ 
ited a. hot spring, much frequented for its medicinal effects, and pro¬ 
vided with accommodations for bathing. There are several others 
in the neighborhood.! 

Sa7iga, the capital of the province of Figen, through which they 
passed the next day (Thursday, February 15), without stopping, 
was found to be a considerable place, situated not far from the 
western border of the province, near the head of the bay of Siraa- 
bara. “ The city,” says Kiimpfer, “ is vei-y large, but extends more 
ill length than in breadth. It is exceedingly populous. Both 
going in and coming out we found strong guards at the gates. It 
is enclosed with walls, but more for state than defence. The prince 
or petty king of this province resides here in a large castle, which 
commands the city. The streets are large, with streams of water 
flowing through them. The houses are but sorry and low, and in 
the chief streets fitted up for manufactures and shopkeepers. The 
inhabitants are very short, but well shaped, particularly the women, 
who are handsomer, I think, than in any other Asiatic country, 
but so much painted that one would be apt to take them for wax 

peculiar sort of complexion-powder made of another shell, one or two young 
pearls will grow out at the sides, and when they come to maturity, as they 
do in two or three years, will drop off; but Kampfer, having never seen this 
phenomenon, is not willing to vouch for its reality. 

* The same tree Kampfer found on his return (May 6) in full blossom, 
and a very beautiful sight. It was noticed as still standing in 1826, by Sie- 
bold, wlio found it by measurement to be fifty feet in circumference. 

t Caron also speaks of these springs, some of which he describes as inter¬ 
mittent. Some are boiling hot, and their waters had been used, as we 
liave seen, in the torture of the Catholics. They are all found in a volcanic 
mountain, having several craters which eject black sand and smoke. In the 
interior of the province of Figo, on the opposite shore of the gulf of Sima- 
bara, is another volcano. The province of Satsuma is entirely volcanic, and 
off its southern extremity is an island that burns incessantly. — Klaproth^ 
from Japanese authorities, Asiatic Journal^ vol. xxx. 

29 





338 


JAPAN. — A. I>. 1690—1C92. 


figures rather than living creatures. Many were noticed who seemed 
little more than girls, yet evidently the mothers of several children. 
These women of Figen have the reputation of being the handsomest 
in Japan, next to th’ose of Miako. This province, though less 
wealthy than that of Satsuma, is reputed to be about the most fer¬ 
tile in all Japan, being particularly famous for its rice, of which it 
produces ten different sorts or qualities, one of which is reserved for 
the special use of the emperor. The rice-fields were observed 
to be bordered with tea-shrubs about six feet high; but as 
they were stripped of their leaves they made but a naked and sorry 
appearance. 

In the afternoon our travellers passed into the province of Tsi- 
CUGO, and having traversed a small but very pleasant wood of firs, 
— a rare sight in the flat parts of the country, — they saw at a dis¬ 
tance the castle of Kurume, the residence of the prince of the prov¬ 
ince.* Friday, February 16, mountains were encountered, which they 
passed in kangos, as the road was too steep for horseback riding. 
This country, forming a part of the province of CmciiUGiiN, struck 
Kiimpfer as not unlike some mountainous and woody parts of Ger¬ 
many, but no cattle were seen grazing, except a few cows and 
horses for carriage and ploughing. The people were less handsome 
than those of Figen, but extremely civil. 

The next day (February 17), after passing, in the afternoon, 
some coal-mines, whence the neighborhood was supplied with fuel, 
they reached Kokura, capital of the province of Buigkn, once a 
large town, but now much decayed. It had a large castle of free¬ 
stone, with a few cannon and a tower of six stories, the usual sign 
of princely residences. A river passed through the town, crossed 
by a bridge near two hundred yards long, but it was too shallow to 
admit vessels of any size. At least one hundred small boats were 
drawn up on the banks. On leaving their inn where they had 
stopped to dine, the Dutch found the square in front of it, as well 
as the bridge, crowded with upwards of a thousand spectators, 

* On Kampfer’s second journey to Jedo (1692), the second night was 
passed at Kunime, which they reached by crossing the bay of Simabara in 
boats, thus leaving the principality of Omura and the city of Savga on 
their left. The next day at noon they struck into the road followed on the 
first journey. 




OSAKA. 


339 


chiefly ordinary people, who had collected to see them, and who 
knelt in profound silence, without motion or noise. The distance of 
this place from Nagasaki was reckoned at fifty-five Japanese miles, 
and had consumed five days. 

Embarking in boats, the Dutch travellers crossed the strait which 
separates Ximo from Nipon, narrower here than anywhere else, 
less than three miles wide, though the town of Simonoseki, which 
gives its name to the strait, being situated at the bottom of an 
inlet, is near twelve miles from Kokura, This town, in the prov¬ 
ince of Naugato, consisted of four or five hundred houses, built 
chiefly on both sides of one long street, with a few smaller ones ter¬ 
minating in it It is full of shops for selling provisions and stores 
to the ships, which daily put in for shelter or supplies, and of which 
not less than two hundred were seen at anchor. It also had a tem¬ 
ple to Amida, built to appease the ghost of a young prince of the 
family of Feiji, so celebrated in the legendary annals of the Japan- 
ese, whose nurse, with the boy in her arms, is said to have thrown 
herself headlong into the strait to avoid capture by his father’s 
enemies, at the time of the ruin of that family. 

The voyage from Simonoseki to Osaka was reckoned at one hun¬ 
dred and thirty-four Japanese water-miles, and was made in six 
days, the vessel coming to anchor every night in good harbors, with 
which the coast abounds. This voyage lay first through the strait 
between Ximo and Nipon, and then through the strait or sea be¬ 
tween Nipon and Sikokf, which was full of islands, some cultivated, 
others niere rocks. On the main land on either side snow-covered 
mountains were visible. The barge could proceed no further than 
Fiogo, a city of the province Setz, nearly as large as Nagasaki. 
Here the company embarked in small boats for Osaka. As they 
passed along they saw at a distance the imperial city of Sakai, 
three or four Japanese miles south from Osaka. The description 
of Osaka, and of the journey thence to Miako, is thus given by 
Kampfer: 

“ Osaka, one of the five imperial cities, is agreeably seated in the 
province of Setz, in a fruitful plain, and on the banks of a naviga¬ 
ble river. At the east end is a strong castle; and at the western 
end, two strong, stately guard-houses, which, separate it from its 
suburbs. Its length from these suburbs to the above-mentioned 




840 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1690—1G92. 


castle is between three and four thousand yards. Its breadth is 
somewhat less. The riven Jodocjawa runs on the north side, and 
below the city falls into the sea. This river rises a day and a half’s 
journey to the north-east, out of a midland lake in the j^rovince of 
U-Ui, which, according to Japanese histories, arose in one night, 
that spot which it now fills being sunk in a violent earthquake. 
Coming out of this lake, it runs by the small towns Udsi and Jodo, 
from which latter it borrows its name, and so continues down to 
Osaka. About a mile before it comes to this city, it sends off one 
of its arms straight to the sea. This want, if any, is supplied by 
two other rivers, both which flow into it just above the city, on the 
north side of the castle, where there are stately bridges over them. 
The united stream having washed one third of the city, part of its 
waters are conveyed through a broad canal to supply the south 
part, which is also the larger, and that where the richest inhab¬ 
itants live. For this purpose several smaller channels cut from the 
large one, pass through some of the chief streets, deep enough to be 
navigable for small boats, which bring goods to the merchant’s 
doors — though some are muddy, and not too clean, for want of a 
sufficient quantity and run of water. Upwards of an hundred bridges, 
many extraordinarily beautiful, are built over them. 

“ A little below the coming out of the above-mentioned canal 
another arm arises on the north side of the great stream, which is 
shallow and not navigable, but runs down westward, with great 
rapidity, till it loses itself in the sea. The middle and great stream 
still continues its course through the city, at the lower end whereof 
it turns westward, and having supplied the suburbs and villages 
which lie without the city, by many lateral branches, at last loses 
itself in the sea through several mouths. This river is narrow, 
indeed, but deep and navigable. From its mouth up as far as 
Osaka, and higher, there are seldom less than a thousand boats 
going up and down, some with merchants, others with the princes 
and lords who live to the west, on their way to and from Jedo. 
The banks are raised on both sides into ten or more steps, coarsely 
hewn of freestone, so that they look like one continued stairs, and 
one may land wherever he pleases. Stately bridges are laid over 
the river at every three or lour hundred paces’ distance. They are 
built of cedar wood, and are railed on both sides, some of the rails 






OSAKA. 


841 


being adorned at top with brass buttons. I counted in all ten such 
bridges, three whereof were particularly remarkable, because of 
their length, being laid over the great arm of the river, where it 
is broadest. 

“The streets, in the main, are narrow but regular, cutting 
each other at right angles. From this regularity, however, we 
must except that part of the city which lies towards the sea, because 
the streets there run along the several branches of the river. The 
streets are very neat, though not paved. However, for the conven- 
iency of walking, there is a small pavement of square stones along 
the houses on each side of the street. At the-end of every street 
are strong gates, which are shut at night, when nobody is suffered 
to pass from one street to another without special leave and a 
passport from the Ottona, or street officer. There is also in 
every street a place railed in, where they keep all the necessary 
instruments in case of fire. Not far from it is a covered well, for 
the same purpose. The houses are, according to the custom of the 
country, not above two stories high, each story of nine or twelve 
feet. They are built of wood, lime and clay. The front offers to 
the spectator’s eye the door, and a shop where the merchants sell 
their goods, or else*^ an open room where artificers, openly and in 
everybody’s sight, exercise their trade. From the upper end of the 
shop or room hangs down a piece of black cloth, partly for orna¬ 
ment, partly to defend them in some measure from the wind and 
weather. At the same place hang some fine patterns of what is 
sold in the shop. The roof is fiat, and in good houses covered with 
black tiles laid in lime. The roofs of ordinary houses are covered 
only with shavings of wood. Within doors all the houses are kept 
clean and neat to admiration. The stair-cases, rails and all the 
wainscotting, are varnished. The fioors are covered with neat mats. 
The rooms are separated from each other by screens, upon removal 
of which several small rooms may be enlarged into one, or the con¬ 
trary done if needful. The walls are hung with shining paper, curi¬ 
ously painted with gold and silver fiowers. The upper pait of the 
wall, for some inches down from the ceiling, is commonly left empty, 
and only clayed with an orange-colored clay, which is dug up about 
this city, and is, because of its beautiful color, exported into other 
provinces. The mats, doors and screens, are all of the same size, 
29 * 



342 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1090—1602, 


six Japanese feet long and three broad. The houses themselves, and 
their several rooms, are built proportionably according to a certain 
number of mats, more or less. There is commonly a curious garden 
behind the house, such as I have described elsewhere. Behind the 
garden is the bathing-stove, and sometimes a vault, or rather a small 
room, with strong walls of clay and lime, to preserve, in case of 
fire, the richest household goods and furniture. 

“ Osaka is extremely populous, and, if we believe what the boast¬ 
ing Japanese tell us, can raise an army of eighty thousand men 
from among its inhabitants. It is the best trading town in Japan, 
being extraordinarily well situated for carrying on a commerce both 
by land and water. This is the reiison why it is so well inhabited 
by rich merchants, artificers and manufacturers. Provisions are 
cheap, notwithstanding the city is so well peopled. Whatever tends 
to promote luxury, and to gratify all sensual pleasures, may be had 
at as easy a rate here as anywhere, and for this reason the Jap- 
anese call Osaka the universal theatre of pleasures and diversions. 
Plays are to be seen daily, both in public and dn private houses. 
Mountebanks, jugglers, who can show some artful tricks, and all the 
raree-show people wdio have either some uncommon, or monstrous 
animal to exhibit, or animals taught to play tricks, resort thither 
from all parts of the empire, being sure to get a better penny here 
than anywhere else.* Hence it is no wonder that numbers of 
strangers and travellers daily resort thither, chiefly rich j^eople, as 
to a place where they can spend their time and money with much 
greater satisfaction than perhaps anywhere else in the empire. The 
western princes and lords on this side Osaka all have houses in this 
city, and people to attend them in their passage through, and yet 
they are not permitted to stay longer than a night, besides that 

* “ Some years ago,” says Kampfer,; “ our East India Company sent over 
fi’om Batavia a Casuar (a large East India bird, who would swallow stones 
and hot coals), as a present to the emperor. This bird having had the ill 
luck not to please our rigid censors, the governors of Nagasaki, and we hav¬ 
ing thereupon been ordered to send him back to Batavia, a rich Japanese 
assured us that if he could have obtained leave to buy him, he would have 
willingly given a thousand taels for him, as being sure within a year’s time 
to get double that money only by showing him at Osaka.” The mermaids 
exhibited in Europe and America, to the great profit of enterprising show¬ 
men, have been of Japanese manufacture. 



GOVERNOR OF OSAKA. 


343 


upon their departure they are obliged to follow a road entirely out 
of sight of the castle. 

“ The water which is drank at Osaka tastes a little brackish; 
but in lieu thereof they have the best saki in the empire, which is 
brewed in great quantities in the neighboring village, Tenusii, and 
from thence exported into most other provinces, nay, by the Dutch 
and Chinese out of the country. 

“ On the east side of the city, in a large plain, lies the famous 
castle built by Taiko-Sama. Groing up to Miako we pass by it. 
It is square, about an hour’s walking in circumference, and strongly 
fortified with round bastions, according to the military architecture 
of the country. After the castle of Figo, it hath not its superior 
in extent, magnificence and strength, throughout the whole empire. 
On the north side it is defended by the river Jodogawa, which 
washes its walls. On the east side its walls are washed by a trib¬ 
utary river, on the opposite bank of which lies a great garden be¬ 
longing to the castle. The south and west sides border upon the 
city. The moles, or buttresses, which support the outward wall, 
are of an uncommon bigness, I believe at least forty-two feet thick. 
They are built to support a high, strong brick wall, lined with 
free-stone, which at its upper end is planted with a row of firs or 
cedars. 

“ The day after our arrival (Sunday, Feb. 25) we were admitted 
to an audience of the governor of the city, to which we were carried 
in kangos, attended by our whole train of interpreters and other 
oflicers. It is half an hour’s walking from our inn to the governor’s 
palace, which lies at the end of the city in a square opposite the 
castle. Just before the house we stepped out of our kangos, 
and put on each a silk cloak, which is reckoned equal to the gar¬ 
ment of ceremony which the Japanese wear on these occasions. 
Through a passage thirty paces long we came into the hall, or 
guard-house, where we were received by two of the governor’s gen¬ 
tlemen, who very civilly desired us to sit down. Four soldiers stood 
upon duty on our left as we came in, and next to them we found 
eight other officers of the governor’s court, all sitting upon their 
knees and ankles. The wall on our right was hung with arms, 
ranged in a proper order, fifteen halberds on one side, twenty lances 
in the middle, and nineteen pikes on the other; the latter were 




344 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


adorned at the upper end with fringes. Hence we were conducted 
by two of the governor’s secretaries through four rooms (which, 
however, upon removing the screens, might have been enlarged 
into one) into the hall of audience. I took notice, as we came by, 
that the walls were hung and adorned with bows, with sabres and 
scymetars, as also with some fire-arms, kept in rich black varnished 
cases. 

“ In the hall of audience, where there were seven of the govern¬ 
or’s gentlemen sitting, the two secretaries sat down at three paces’ 
distance from us, and treated us with tea, carrying on a very civil 
conversation with us till the governor appeared, as he soon did, 
with two of his sons, one seventeen, the other eighteen years of age, 
and sat down at ten paces’ distance in another room, which was laid 
open towards the hall of audience by removing three lattices, through 
which he spoke to us. 

“ He seemed to be about forty years of age, middle-sized, strong, 
active, of a manly countenance and broad-faced; very civil in his 
conversation, and speaking with a great deal of softness and mod¬ 
esty. He was but meanly clad in black, and wore a gray garment 
of ceremony over his dress. He wore, also, but one ordinary scym- 
etar. His conversation turned chiefly upon the following points : 
That the weather was now very cold ; that we had made a very 
great journey ; that it was a singular favor to be admitted into the 
emperor’s presence; that, of all nations in the world, only the 
Dutch were allowed this honor. 

“ He promised us, that since the chief justice of Miako, whose 
business it is to give us the necessary passports for our journey to 
court, was not yet returned from Jedo, he would give us his own 
passports, which would be full as valid, and that we might send for 
them the next morning. He also assured us that he was very will¬ 
ing to assist us with horses and whatever else we might stand in 
need of for continuing our journey. 

“ On our sides, we returned him thanks for his kind offers, and 
desired that he would be pleased to accept of a small present, con¬ 
sisting of some pieces of silk stuffs, as an acknowledgment of our 
gratitude. We also made some presents to the two secretaries or 
stewards of his household; and, having taken our leave, were by 
them conducted back to the guard-house. Here we took our leave 





JODO AND FUSIMI. 


345 


also of them, and returned through the above-mentioned passage 
back to our kangos. Our interpreters permitted us to walk a little 
way, which gave us an opportunity to view the outside of the above- 
described famous castle. We then entered our kangos and were 
carried back through another long street to our inn. 

“ Wednesday, Feb. 28, we set out by break of day on our jour¬ 
ney to Miako, because we intended to reach that place the same 
day, it being but thirteen Japanese miles, or a good day’s journey, 
distant from Osaka, out of which we came by the Kiobas, or bridge 
to Miako, which crosses the river just below the castle. We then 
travelled about a mile through muddy rice-fields, riding along a low 
dike raised on the banks of the river Jodo-gawa, which we had on 
our left. Multitudes of Tsadamia trees, which grow as tall in this 
country as oaks do with us, were planted along it. It had then no 
leaves, because of the winter season, but its branches hung full of a 
yellow fruit, out of which the natives prepare an oil. The country 
hereabouts is extraordinary well inhabited, and the many villages 
alon" the road are so near each other that there wants little towards 

o 

making it one continued street from Osaka to Miako. 

“ The small but famous city, Jodo, is entirely enclosed with water, 
and hath besides several canals cut through the town, all derived 
from the arms of the river which encompasses it. The suburbs con¬ 
sist of one long street, across which we rode to a stately wooden 
bridge, called Jodobas, four hundred paces long, and supported by 
forty arches, to which answer so many ballisters, adorned at the 
upper end with brass buttons. At the end of this bridge is a single 
well-guarded gate, through which we entered the city. The city 
itself is very pleasant and agreeably situated, and hath very good 
houses, though but few streets, which cut each other at right angles, 
running some south, some east. Abundance of artificers and handi¬ 
craftsmen live at Jodo. On the west side lies the castle, built of 
brick, in the middle of the river, with stately towers several stories 
high at each corner, and in the middle of its walls. Coming out of 
Jodo, we again passed over a bridge two hundred paces long, sup¬ 
ported by twenty arches, which brought us into a suburb, at the 
end of which was a strong guard-house. 

“ After about two hours’ riding we came, at two in the afternoon, 
io Fusimi. This is a small, open town, or rather village, of a few 




346 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1G90—1692. 


streets, of which the middle and chief reaches as far as Miako, and is 
contiguous to the streets of that capital, insomuch that Fusimi might 
be called the suburbs of Miako, the rather since this last city is not 
at all enclosed with walls. It was to-day Tsitats with the Japanese, 
that is, the first day of the month, which they keep as a Sunday or 
holiday, visiting the temples, walking into the fields, and following 
all manner of diversions. Accordingly we found this street, along 
which we rode for full four hours before we got to our inn, crowded 
with multitudes of the inhabitants of Miako, walking out of the city 
to take the air, and to visit the neighboring temples. Particularly 
the women were all on this occasion richly-apparelled in variously- 
colored gowns, wearing a purple-colored silk about the forehead, 
and large straw hats to defend themselves from the heat of the sun. 
We likewise met some particular sorts of beggars, comically clad, 
and some masked in a very ridiculous manner. Not a few walked 
upon iron stilts; others carried large pots with green trees upon their 
heads ; some were singing, some whistling, some fluting, others beat¬ 
ing of bells. All along the street we saw multitudes of open shops, 
jugglers and players diverting the crowd. 

“ The temples which we had on our right as we went up, built in 
the ascent of the neighboring green hills, were illuminated with 
many lamps, and the priests, beating some bells with iron hammers, 
made such a noise as could be heard at a considerable distance. I 
took notice of a large, white dog, perhaps made of plaster, which 
stood upon an altar on our left, in a neatly-adorned chapel or small 
temple, which was consecrated to the Patron of the dogs. Wo 
reached our inn at Miako at six in the evening, and were forthwith 
carried up one pair of stairs into our apartments, which in some 
measure, I thought, might be compared to the Westphalian smoking 
rooms, wherein they smoke their beef and bacon. 

“We had travelled to-day through a very fruitful country, 
mostly through rice-fields, wherein we saw great flocks of wild 
ducks, if they deserve to be so called, being so very tame that no 
travelling company approaching will fright them away. We took 
notice also of several large, white herons, some swans, and some 
few storks, looking for their food in the morassy fields. We like¬ 
wise saw the peasants ploughing with black oxen, which seemed to 
be lean, poor beasts, but are said to work well. 



RECEPTIONS AT MIAKO. 


347 


“ Feb. 29, early in the morning, we sent the presents for the 
chief justice and the governors to their palaces, laid, according to 
the country fashion, upon particular small tables made of fir, and 
kept for no other use but this. We followed soon after, about ten 
in the forenoon, in kangos. Their palaces were at the west end of 
the city, opposite the castle of the Dairi. We were conducted 
through a court-yard, twenty paces broad, into the hall or fore-room 
of the house, which is called Ban, or the chief guard, and is the 
rendezvous of numbers of clerks, inspectors, &c. Hence we were 
taken, through two other rooms, into a third, where they desired us 
to sit down. Soon after came in his lordship’s steward, an old 
gentleman who seemed upwards of sixty years of age, clad in a 
gray or ash-colored honor-gown, who seated himself at about four 
paces from us, in order to receive, in his master’s name, both our 
compliments and presents, which stood in the same room, laid out 
in a becoming order. They consisted of a flask of Tent wine, be¬ 
sides twenty pieces of silk, woollen and linen stuffs. The steward 
having very civilly returned us thanks for our presents, boxes with 
tobacco and pipes and proper utensils for smoking were set before 
us, and a dish of tea was presented to each of us by a servant, at 
three different times, the steward and the chief gentlemen pressing 
us to drink. Having staid about a quarter of an hour, we took our 
leave, and were conducted by the steward himself to the door of 
their room, and thence by other officers back to the gate. 

“ This first visit being over, we walked thence on foot to the 
palace of the commanding governor, who was but lately arrived 
from Jedo. Some sentinels stood upon duty at the gate, and in 
the ban, or hall, we found very near fifty people, besides some 
young boys, neatly clad, all sitting in very good order. Through 
this hall we were conducted into a side apartment, where we were 
civilly received by the two secretaries, both elderly men, and were 
treated with tea, sugar, &c.; receiving, also, repeated assurances 
that we should be soon admitted into the governor’s presence. 

“ Having staid full half an hour in this room, we were conducted 
into another, where, after a little while, the lattices of two screens 
being suddenly opened just over against us, the governor appeared, 
sitting at fourteen paces distant. He wore, as usual, a garment of 
ceremony over his black dress. He seemed to be about thirty-six 



348 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1C90—1692. 


years of age, of a strong, lusty constitution, and showed in his 
countenance and whole behavior a good deal of pride and vanity. 
After a short conversation, we desired that he would be pleased to 
accept of our small present, consisting of twelve pieces of stuffs, 
which lay upon a table, or salver, in the manner above described. 
He thereupon bowed a little, to return us thanks, and, putting him¬ 
self in a rising posture, the two lattices were let down forthwith, in 
a very comical manner. But we were desired to stay a little while 
longer, that the ladies — w^ho were in a neighboring room, behind 
a paper screen, pierced with holes — might have an opportunity of 
contemplating us and our foreign dress. Our president was de¬ 
sired to show them his hat, sword, watch, and several other things 
he had about him, as also to take off his cloak, that they might 
have a full view of his dress, both before and behind. Having 
staid about an hour in the house of this governor, we were con¬ 
ducted by the two secretaries back to the hall, or chief guard, and 
thence by two inferior officers into the yard. 

“ It beino; fair weather, we resolved to walk on foot to the house 
of the other governor, some hundred paces distant. We were re¬ 
ceived there much after the manner above described. After we 
had been treated in the ban with tea and tobacco, as usual, we 
were conducted, through several rooms, into the hall of audience, 
which was richly furnished, and, amongst other things, adorned 
wuth a cabinet filled with bows and arrows, small fire-arms, guns 
and pistols, kept in black varnished cases. These, and other arms, 
we took notice, were hung up in several other rooms through which 
we passed, much after the same manner as in the governor’s house 
at Osaka. On one side the hall we took notice of two screens, 
pierced with holes, behind which sat some women, whom the curi¬ 
osity of seeing people from so remote a part of the world had drawn 
thither. We had scarce sat down, when the governor appeared, 
and sat himself down at ten paces from us. He was clad in black, 
as usual, with a garment of ceremony. He was a gray man, 
almost sixty years of age, but of a good complexion, and very 
handsome. He bade us welcome, showed in his whole behavior a 
great deal of civility, and received our presents kindly, and with 
seeming great satisfaction. Our chief interpreter took this oppor¬ 
tunity to make the governor, as his old acquaintance, some private 



DESCRIPTION OF MIAKO. 


349 


presents in his own name, consisting of some European glasses, 
and, in the mean time, to beg a favor for his deputy interpreter’s 
son. Having taken our leave, we returned to our kangos, and 
were carried home to our inn, where we arrived at one in the 
afternoon. 

“ Kio, or Miako, signifies in Japanese, a city. [Klaproth says, 
great temple or palace.] It lies in the province J amatto, in a large 
plain, and is, from north to south, three English miles long, and two 
broad from east to west, surrounded with pleasant green hills and 
mountains, from which arise numbers of small rivers and agreeable 
springs. The city comes nearest the riiountains on the east side, 
where there are numerous temples, monasteries, chapels, and other 
religious buildings, standing in the ascent. Three shallow rivers 
enter, or run by, it on that side. The chief and largest comes out 
of the Lake Oitz; the other two from the neighboring moun¬ 
tains. They come together about the middle of the city, where the 
united stream is crossed by a large bridge, two hundred paces long. 
The Dairi, with his family and court, resides on the north side of 
the city, in a particular part or ward, consisting of twelve or thir¬ 
teen streets, separated from the rest by walls and ditches. In the 
western part of the town is a strong castle of free-stone, built by 
one of the hereditary emperors, for the security of his person 
during the civil wars. At present it serves to lodge the Kubo, or 
actual monarch, when he comes to visit the Dairi. It is upwards 
of a thousand feet long where longest; a deep ditch, filled with 
water, and walled in, surrounds it, and is enclosed itself by a broad 
empty space, or dry ditch. In the middle of this castle there is, 
as usual, a square tower, several stories high. In the ditch are 
kept a particular sort of delicious carps, some of which were pre¬ 
sented this evening to our interpreter. A small garrison guards 
the castle, under the command of a captain. 

“ The streets of Miako are narrow, but all regular, running some 
south, some east. Being at one end of a great street, it is impos¬ 
sible to reach the other with the eye, because of their extraordinary 
length, the dust, and the multitude of people. The houses are, 
generally speaking, narrow, only two stories high, built of wood, 
lime, and clay, according to the country fashion. 

“ Miako is the great magazine of all Japanese manufactures and 

30 




350 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1690—1692. 


commodities, and the chief mercantile town in the empire. There 
is scarce a house in this large capital where there is not something 
made or sold. Here they refine copper, coin money, print books, 
weave the richest stuffs, with gold and silver flowers. The best 
and scarcest dyes, the most artful carvings, all sorts of musical 
instruments, pictures, japanned cabinets, all sorts of things wrought 
in gold and other metals, particularly in steel, as the best tempered 
blades, and other arms, are made here in the utmost perfection, as 
are, also, the richest dresses, and after the best fashion, all sorts 
of toys, puppets, moving their heads of themselves, and, in short, 
there is nothing can be thought of but what may be found at Miako, 
and nothing, though never so neatly wrought, can be imported 
from abroad, but what some artist or other in this capital will un¬ 
dertake to imitate it. Considering this, it is no wonder that the 
manufactures of Miako are become so famous throughout the em¬ 
pire as to be easily preferred to all others (though, perhaps, inferior 
in some particulars), only because they have the name of being 
made there. There are but few houses in all the chief streets 
where there is not something to be sold, and, for my part, I could 
not help admiring whence they can have customers enough for such 
an immense quantity of goods. ’T is true, indeed, there is scarce 
anybody passes through but what buys something or other of the 
manufactures of this city, either for his own use, or for presents to 
be made to his friends and relations. 

The lord chief justice resides at Miako, a man of great power 
and authority, as having the supreme command, under the emperor, 
of all the bugios, governors, stewards, and other officers, who are 
any ways concerned in the government of the imperial cities, crown 
lands and tenements, in all the western provinces of the empire. 
Even the western princes themselves must, in some measure, de¬ 
pend on him, and have a great regard to his person as a mediator 
and compounder of quarrels and difficulties that may arise between 
them. Nobody is suffered to pass through Array and Falione^ two 
of the most important passes, and, in a manner, the keys of the im¬ 
perial capital and court, without a passport, signed by his hand. 

“ The political government and regulation of the streets is the 
same at Miako as it is at Osaka and Nagasaki. The number of 
inhabitants of Miako, in the year of our visit, will appear by the 



CENSUS OF MIAKO. 


351 


following Aratame* (exclusive, however, of those who live in the 
castle and at the Dairi’s court).” 


Negi (persons attending the Sintos temples), . . . . 9,003 

Jamabo (mountain priests),. 6,073 

Siuku (ecclesiastics of the Buddhist religion), . . . 37,093 

Buddhist laymen, of four principal and eight inferior 

sects or observances,!.■ . . 477,557 

Tira (Buddhist temples),. 3,893 

Mias (Sinto temples),. 2,127 

Sokokf Dai Mio Jasiki (palaces and- houses of the 

princes and lords of the empire),. 137 

Matz (streets),. 1,858 

Ken (houses), . 138,979 

Bos (bridges),. 87 


* The Aratame is a sort of an inquisition into the life and family of every 
inhabitant, the number of his children and domestics, the sect he professes or 
the temples he belongs to, made very punctually, once every year, in every 
city and district, by commissioners appointed for this purpose. 

t The worshippers of Amida were the most numerous, amounting to 
159,113. The other principal sects had, respectively, 99,728, 99,016, 
54,586. Caron had noticed and mentioned this division into twelve sects, or 
observances. He states, and other subsequent authors have repeated, that, 
notwithstanding this division, they have no controversies or religious quar¬ 
rels ; but this does not agi-ee with the accounts of the Catholic missionaries. 
Every resident of Miako, except the Sinto priests, and, perhaps,-the house¬ 
hold of the Dairi, would seem to belong to some Buddhist sect. 


■’A \ii 












CHAPTER XXXVI. 


lAKE OITZ.-MOUNT JESAN.-JAPANESE LEGENDS. — A JAPANESE PATENT 

MEDICINE. — QUANO. MIA. ■— ARRAY. POLICY OF THE EMPERORS. 

KAKEGAWA. A TOWN ON FIRE. — SERUGA. KUNO. PASSAGE OF A 

RAPID RIVER. FUSI-NO-.JAMA, OR MOUNT FUSI. CROSSING THE PENINSULA 

OF IDSU.-SECOND SEARCHING PLACE.-PURGATORY LAKE.-ODAWARA. 

.— COAST OF THE BAY OF JEDO.-A LIVE SAINT.-CANAGAWA. -SINA- 

OAWA.-JEDO.-IMPERIAL CASTLES AND PALACE. 


Kampfer and his company left Miako Friday, March 2d, and, 
after a journey of eight or nine miles, during which they saw a 
hi<yh mountain towards the south, covered with snow, they reached 
OitZy a town of a thousand houses, where they lodged. This town 
lies at the south-western extremity of the large fresh-water lake of 
the same name, already mentioned.* 

On the south-eastern shore of this lake, which abounds with fish 
and fowl, lies the famous mountain Jesan (by interpretation Fair- 
hill), covered with Buddhist monasteries, and near it were seen 
other mountains, covered with snow, and extending along the lake 
shore. Shortly after leaving Oitz, the Jodogawa, one of the out¬ 
lets of the lake, was crossed upon a bridge, supported at the extrem¬ 
ities by stone columns, of which the following legend is told. These 
columns were in old times possessed by an evil spirit, which very 
much molested travellers, as well as the inhabitants of the village. 
It happened one day that the famous saint and apostle, Kusi^ 
travelling that way, all the people of the neighborhood earnestly 
entreated him to deliver them by his miraculous power from this 
insufierable evil, and to cast this devil out of the columns. The 

* According to Klaproth, following Japanese authorities, it is seventy-two 
and one lialf English miles long, and twenty-two and one quarter at its 
greatest breadth. 


DSUTSI JAMA. 


853 


Japanese, a people superstitious to excess, expected that he would 
use a good many prayers and ceremonies, but found, to their utmost 
surprise, that he only took olf the dirty cloth which he wore about 
his waist, and tied it about the column. Perceiving how much 
they were amazed, Kusi addressed them in these words : “ Friends,” 
said he, “ it is in vain you expect that I should make use of many 
ceremonies. Ceremonies will never cast out devils; faith must do 
it, and it is only by faith that I perform miracles.” “ A remark¬ 
able saying,” exclaims Kampfer, “in the mouth of a heathen 
teacher ! ” 

MiTwki, a village through which they next passed, was famous 
for the sole manufacture of a medicine of great repute, found out by 
a poor but pious man, to whom the god Jacusi^ the protector of 
physic and physicians, revealed in a dream the ingredients, which 
are certain bitter herbs growing upon the neighboring mountains. 
This story helped the sale of the medicine, by which the inven¬ 
tor soon grew very rich, so that he was not only able to build a 
fine house for himself, but also a small temple, opposite his shop, 
and highly adorned, in honor of the god who had given him the 
receipt, whose statue, richly gilt, was to be seen there, standing 
on a Tarate flower, and with half a large cockle-shell over his 
head. 

The next day (Sunday, March 4) the Dutch travellers crossed the 
Dsutsi Jama, a mountain ridge, so steep that its descent was like 
that of a winding staircase cut out in the face of the precipice. 
On this mountain were many temples, and in this neighborhood vast 
crowds of pilgrims were encountered, bound to Isje, situate some 
forty miles to the south. The travellers struck the sea-coast at 
Jokitz, a town of a thousand houses, whose inhabitants were partly 
supported by fishing, and the next day (Monday the 5th), after 
about nine miles’ travel, they entered the city of Quano, in the 
province of Voart, situated at the head of a deep bay. It con¬ 
sisted of three parts, like so many different towns. The first and 
third parts were enclosed by high walls and ditches. The other 
part was entirely surrounded by water, the country being flat and 
full of rivers. The castle, washed on three sides by the sea, was 
separated from the town by a deep ditch with draw-bridges. 

From Quano they proceeded by water to Mia, some fifteen miles 

30 * 




354 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691. 


distant. The head of the bay was very shallow, and the boats 
were pushed through mud-banks. Mia, though not so large as 
Quano, consisted of two thousand houses, with two spacious castles, 
one of them for size and strength reckoned the third in Japan. 
There were two temples, in one of which are preserved three, in 
the other eight, miraculous swords, used by the race of demigods 
who were the first inhabitants of Japan. 

Tuesday, March 6th, the travellers dined at Okasaki, a town of 
fifteen hundred houses, with a strong castle situate on the shores of 
the same bay. The country travelled through was a fertile plain, 
along the foot of a range of mountains, the shores of which, beyond 
Okasaki, extended to the sea. 

The next day (Wednesday, March 7) they passed through several 
considerable places, of which Josida, with a castle and about a 
thousand small houses, was the most considerable. Array, twelve 
or fifteen miles distant, was a town of about four hundred houses, 
situate not far from the sea, at the inland extremity of a harbor 
called Suota, narrow at its entrance, but spreading out witliin. 
Array was the seat of certain imperial commissioners appointed to 
search the goods and baggage of all travellers, but particularly of 
the princes of the empire, that no women nor arms might pass. 
“ This,” says Kiimpfer, “ is one of the political maxims which the 
now reigning emperors have found it necessary to practise in order 
to secure to themselves the peaceable possession of the throne; for 
the wives and female children of all the princes of the empire are 
kept at Jedo, as hostages of the fidelity of their husbands and 
parents. And as to the exportation of arms, an elFectual stop has 
been put to that, lest, if exported in any considerable quantities, 
some of those princes might take it into their heads to raise rebel¬ 
lions against the government as now established.” 

The harbor of Suota was crossed in boats, on the other side of 
which the road led through a flat country, rather thinly inhabited. 
They slept that night at Famamatz, a town of several hundred 
inferior houses, with a large castle. The next day (Thursday, 
March 8), travelling on through a beautiful plain, in the afternoon 
they reached the town of Kakeyawa ; as they were passing through 
which, a fire broke out, occasioned by the boiling over of an oil 
kettle. Perceiving only a thick cloud behind them, they thought a 




FUSI-NO-JAMA. 


355 


Btorm was coming on, but were soon involved in such a cloud of 
smoke and heat as to be obliged to ride on at a gallop. Having 
reached a little eminence, on looking back, the whole town seemed 
on fire. Nothing appeared through the smoke and flames but the 
upper part of the castle tower. They found, however, on their 
return, some weeks after, that the damage was less than they had 
expected, more than half the town having escaped. 

It was necessary, shortly after, for the travellers to take kangos to 
cross a steep mountain, descending from which they were obliged to 
ford the river Ojingawa, proverbial throughout Japan for its force 
and rapidity and the rolling stones in its bed, but just then at a 
very low stage. The road thence to Simada* a small town where 
they lodged, was close to the sea, but through a barren country, the 
mountains approaching close to the shore. 

The next day (Friday, March 9) brought them, most of the way 
through a flat, well-cultivated country, to the city of Seruga, capi¬ 
tal of the province of that name. The streets, broad and regular, 
crossed each other at right angles, and were full of well-furnished 
shops. Paper stuffs, euriously flowered, for hats, baskets, boxes, 
&c., also various manufactures of split and twisted reeds, and all 
sorts of lackered ware, were made here. There was also a mint here, 
as well as at Miako and Jedo, where kobangs and itzebos were 
coined. It had a castle of free-stone, well defended with ditches 
and high walls. 

A few miles from Seruga were kept certain war-junks for the 
defence of the bay of Totomina; and just beyond, upon a high 
mountain, stood the fortress of Kuno, or Kotio, esteemed by the 
Japanese impregnable. It was built to contain the imperial treas¬ 
ures, but they had since been removed to Jedo. 

In the course of the next day (Saturday, March 10) the road 
turned inland, in order to cross the great river Fusigaiva, which 
enters into the head of the bay, taking its rise in the high, snowy 
mountain Fusi-no-Jama. It was crossed in flat broad-bottomed 
boats, constructed of thin planks, so as on striking the rocks to 
yield and slip over. The mountain Fusi, whence this river takes 

* Though situated near the sea, and similar in name, this is not the Simoda, 
one of the ports opened to the United States. That is further east and south, 
on the west coast of the peninsula of Idsu. 



356 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691. 


its rise and name, towers in a conical form above all the surround¬ 
ing hills, and is seen at a great distance. It is quite barren, no 
plants growing on it.* It is ascended for the worship of the Jap¬ 
anese god of the winds, to whom the Jamabo, or mountain priests, 
are consecrated, and who frequently repeat the words Fusi Jama^ 
in discoursing or begging. It takes three days to ascend this moun¬ 
tain ; but the descent can be made, so Kampfer was told, in three 
hours, by the help of sledges of reeds or straw, tied about the waist, 
by means of which one may glide down over the snow in winter 
and the sand in summer, it being surprisingly smooth and even. 
Japanese poets cannot find words, Kampfer tells us, nor Japanese 
painters colors, in which to represent this mountain as they think 
it deserves. 

Our travellers kept on this day and the next (Sunday, March 
11) through the mountainous country of Facone, which runs out 
southward from the broad peninsula of Insu. At a village, hemmed 
in between a lake and a mountain, the lake itself surrounded in 
every other direction by mountains not to be climbed, was a narrow 
pass — another imperial searching-place, where all persons travel¬ 
ling to, and especially from, Jedo, must submit to a rigorous exam¬ 
ination. Upon the shore of this lake were five small wooden chap¬ 
els, and in each a priest seated, beating a gong and howling a 
nimada. “ All the Japanese foot-travellers of our retinue,” says 
Kiimpfer, “ threw them some kasses into the chapel, and in return 
received each a paper, which they carried, bareheaded, with great 
respect, to the shore, in order to throw it into the lake, having first 
tied a stone to it, that it might be sure to go to the bottom; which 
they believe is the purgatory for children who die before seven 
years of age. They are told so by their priests, who, for their com¬ 
fort, assure them that as soon as the water washes oflF the names 
and characters of the gods and saints, written upon the papers above • 

* Fusi-no-jama, in the province of Seruga, on the borders of Kiu, is an 
enormous pyramid, generally covered with snow, detached from and south¬ 
erly of the great central chain of Nipon. It is tlie largest and most noted 
of the volcanoes of Japan. In the year 1707 there was an irruption from 
it which covered all the neighborhood with masses of rock, red-hot sand and 
ashes, which latter fell, even in Jedo, some inches deep. — Klaproth (from 
Japanese authorities) in Asiatic Journal^ vol. xxxii. 



A LIVE SAINT. 


35T 


mentioned, the children at the bottom feel great relief, if they do 
not obtain a full and effectual redemption.” This lake has but one 
outlet, falling over the mountains in a cataract, and running down 
through a craggy and precipitous valley, along which the road is 
carried on a very steep descent to the mouth of the river in the bay 
of Jedo. Here, on a plain four miles in width, was found the 
town of Odowara, containing about a thousand small houses, very 
neatly built, and evidently inhabited by a better class of people; 
but the empty shops evinced no great activity of trade or manufac¬ 
tures. The castle and residence of the prince, as well as the 
temples, were on the north side, in the ascent of the mountains. 

The next day (Monday, March 12), the road following the north¬ 
west shore of the outer bay of Jedo crossed several very rapid 
streams, till at length the mountains on their left disappeared, and 
a broad plain spread out extending to Jedo. Off the shore was 
seen the island of Kamokura, with high and rugged shores, but of 
which the surface was flat and wooded. It was not above four 
miles in circumference, and was used, like several other islands, as 
a place of confinement for disgraced noblemen. There being no 
landing-place, the boats that bring prisoners or provisions must be 
hauled up and let down by a crane. After a time the road left 
the shore, crossing a promontory which separates the outer from the 
inner bay of Jedo ; but by sunset the shore of the inner bay was 
struck. 

The country now became exceedingly fruitful and populous, and 
almost a continued row of towns and villages. In one of these 
villages there lived in a monastery an old gray monk, four-score 
years of age, and a native of Nagasaki. “ He had spent,” says 
Kampfer, “ the greatest part of his life in holy pilgrimages, running- 
up and down the country, and visiting almost all the temples of the 
Japanese empire. The superstitious vulgar had got such a high 
notion of his holiness, that even in his lifetime they canonized and 
reverenced him as a great saint, to the extent of worshipping his 
statue, which he caused to be carved of stone, exceeding in this 
even Alexander the Great, who had no divine honors paid him 
during his life. Those of his countrymen who were of our retinue 
did not fail to run thither to see and pay their respects to that holy 


man. 




858 


JAPAX.-A. P. 1G91. 


The Dutch company lodged at Kanagawa, a town of six hundred 
houses, twenty-four miles from the capital. The coast of the bay 
appeared at low water to be of a soft clay, furnishing abundance of 
shell-fish and of certain sea-weeds, which were gathered and pre¬ 
pared for food. The road the next day (Tuesday, March 13), 
still hugging the shore, led on through a fruitful and populous dis¬ 
trict, in which, were several fishing villages, the bay abounding with 
fish. As they approached Sinagawa, they passed a place of public 
execution, offering a show of human heads and bodies, some half 
piitrified and others half devoured — dogs, ravens, crows and other 
ravenous beasts and birds, uniting to satisfy their appetites on these 
miserable remains.* 

Smagawa, immediately adjoining Jedo, of which it forms a sort 
of outer suburb, consisted of one long, irregular street, with the bay 
on the right, and a hill on the left, on which stood some temples. 
Some few narrow streets and lanes turned off from the great one 
towards these temples, some of which were very spacious buildings, 
and all pleasantly seated, adorned within with gilt idols, and with¬ 
out with large carved images, curious gates, and staircases of 
stone leading up to them. One of them was remarkable for a 
magnificent tower, four stories high. “ Though the Japanese,” says 
Kiimpfer, “ spare no trouble nor expense to adorn and beautify their 
temples, yet the best fall far short of that loftiness, symmetry and 
stateliness, which is observable in some of our European churches.” 

Having ridden upwards of two miles through Sinagawa, they 
stopped at a small inn, pleasantly seated on the sea-side, from 
which they had a full view of the city and harbor of Jedo, crowded 
with many hundred ships and boats of all sizes and shapes. The 
smallest lay nearest the town, and the largest one or two leagues off, 
not being able to go higher by reason of • the shallowing of the 
water. “ Our Bugio,” says Kiimpfer, “ quitted his norimon here 
and went on horseback, people of his extraction not being suffered 
to enter the capital in a norimon. We travelled near a mile to the 
end of the suburb of Sinagawa, and then entered the suburbs of 
Jedo, which are only a continuation of the former, there being 

* At the date of these travels, and indeed at a much later period, similar 
exhibitions might have been seen in Europe. 





ENTRANCE INTO JEDO. 


359 


nothing to separate them but a small guard-house. The bay comes 
here so close to the foot of the hill that there is but one row of 
small houses between it and the road, which, for some time, runs 
along the shore, but soon widens into several irregular streets of a 
considerable length, which, after about half an hour’s riding, 
became broader, more uniform, handsome and regular; whence, and 
from the great throngs of people, we concluded that we were now 
got into the city. We kept to the great middle street, which runs 
northward across the whole city, though somewhat irregularly, 
passing over several stately bridges laid across small rivers and 
muddy canals, which run on our left towards the castle, and on our 
right towards the sea, as did also several streets turning off from 
the great one. 

“ The throng of people along this chief and middle street, which is 
about one hundred and twenty-five feet broad, is incredible. We 
met as we rode along many numerous trains of princes of the em¬ 
pire and great men at court, and ladies richly apparelled, carried 
in norimons; and, among other people, a company of firemen on 
foot, about one hundred in number, walking in much the same 
military order as ours do in Europe. They were clad in brown 
leather coats to defend them against the fire; and some carried 
long pikes, others fire-hooks, upon their shoulders. Their captain 
rode in the middle. On both sides of the street were multitudes of 
well-furnished shops of merchants and tradesmen, drapers, silk-mer¬ 
chants, druggists, idol-sellers, booksellers, glass-blowers, apotheca¬ 
ries and others. A black cloth hanging down covers one half of the 
shop, of which the front projects a little way into the street, so as 
to expose to view curious patterns of the goods offered for sale. 
We took notice that scarce anybody here had curiosity enough to 
come out of his house to see us go by, as they had done in other 
places, probably because such a small retinue as ours had nothing 
remarkable or uncommon to amuse the inhabitants of so populous a 
city. 

“ Having rode above two miles along this great street, and 
passed by fifty other streets, which turned off on both sides, we at 
last tuimed in ourselves; and, coming to our inn, found our lodgings 
ready in the upper story of a back house, which had no other 
access but through a by-lane. We arrived at one in the after- 




360 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691. 


noon, having completed our journey from Nagasaki in twenty-nine 
days. 

“ Jedo, the residence of the emperor, the capital, and by much 
the largest city of the empire, is seated in the province Musasi, in 
35° 32' of northern latitude [according to Kampfer’s observations], 
on a large plain, at the head of a gulf, plentiful!}^ stored with fish, 
crabs, and other shell-fish, but so shallow, with a muddy clay at 
the bottom, that no ships of bulk can come up to the city, but must 
be unladen a league or two below it. 

“ Towards the sea the city hath the figure of a half-moon, and 
the Japanese will have it to be seven of their miles (about sixteen 
English miles) long, five (twelve English) broad, and twenty (fifty 
English) in circumference. It is not enclosed with a wall, no more 
than other towns in Japan, but cut through by many broad canals, 
with ramparts raised on both sides, and planted at the top with 
rows of trees, not so much for defence as to prevent the fires — 
which happen here too frequently — from making too great a 
havoc. 

“ A large river, rising westward of the city, runs through it, and 
loses itself in the harbor. It sends off a considerable arm, which 
encompasses the castle, and thence falls into the harbor, in five 
different streams, every one of which hath its particular name, and 
a stately bridge over it. The chief, and most famous, of these 
bridges, two hundred and fifty-two feet in length, is called Ni- 
ponbas, or the bridge of Japan, mention of which has already been 
made, as the point from which distances are reckoned all over the 
empire. 

“Jedo is not built with that regularity which is observable in 
most other cities in Japan (particularly Miako), and this because 
it swelled by degrees to its present bulk. However, in some parts 
the streets run regularly enough, cutting each other at right angles 
— a regularity entirely owing to accidents of fire, whereby some 
hundred houses being laid in ashes at once, as, indeed, very fre¬ 
quently happens, the new streets may be laid out upon what plan 
the builders please.” Many places, which have been thus destroyed 
by fire, were noticed by Kiimpfer still lying waste. “ The houses 
are small and low, built of fir wood, with thin clayed walls, divided 
into rooms by paper screens and lattices, the floors covered with 



DESCRIPTION OF JEDO. 


3G1 


mats, and the roofs with shavings of wood. The whole machine 
being thus but a composition of combustible matter, we need not 
wonder at the great havoc fires make in this country. Here, as 
elsewhere, almost every house hath a place under the roof, or upon 
it, where they constantly keep a tub full of water, with a couple of 
mats, which may be easily come at, even from without the house; 
by which precaution they often quench a fire in particular houses; 
but it is far from being suflicient to stop the fury of a raging flame 
which has got ground already, against which they know no better 
remedy but to pull down some of the neighboring houses which 
have not yet been reached, for which purpose whole companies of 
firemen patrol about the streets day and night. 

“ The city is well stocked with monks, temples, monasteries, and 
other religious buildings, which are seated in the best and pleasantest 
places, as they are, also, in Europe, and, I believe, in all other 
countries. The dwelling-houses of private monks are no ways dif¬ 
ferent from those of the laity, excepting only that they are seated 
in some eminent conspicuous place, with some steps leading up to 
them, and a small temple or chapel hard by, or, if there be none, 
at least a hall, or large room, adorned with some few altars, on 
which stand several of their idols. There are, besides, many stately 
temples built to Amida, Siaka, Quanwon, and several other of their 
gods, not necessary to be particularly described here, as they do 
not differ much in form or structure from other temples erected to 
the same gods at Miako, which we shall have an opportunity to 
view and describe more particularly upon our return to that city. 

“ There are many stately palaces in Jedo, as may be easily con¬ 
jectured, by its being the residence of the emperor, and the abode 
of all the noble and princely families. They are distinguished from 
other houses by large court-yards and stately gates. Fine varnished 
stair-cases, of a few steps, lead up to the door of the house, which 
is divided into several magnificent aparj^nents, all of a floor, they 
being not above one story high, nor adorned with towers, as the 
castles and palaces are where the princes and lords of the empire 
reside in their hereditary dominions. 

“ The city of Jedo is a nursery of artists, handicraftsmen, mer¬ 
chants, and tradesmen, and yet everything is sold dearer than any¬ 
where else in the empire, by reason of the great concourse of people, 
81 



S62 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1691, 


and the number of idle monks and courtiers, as, also, the difficulty 
of importing provisions and other commodities. 

“ The political government of this city is much the same as at 
Nagasaki and Osaka. Two governors have the command of the 
town by turns, each for the space of one year. The chief subaltern 
officers are the Burgo-masters, as the Dutch call them, or mayors, 
wffio have the command of particular quarters, and the Ottona, 
who have the inspection and subordinate command of single streets. 

“ The castle and residence of the emperor is seated about the 
middle of the city. It is of an irregular figure, inclining to the 
round, and hath five Japanese miles in circumference. It embraces 
two fore-castles, as one may call them, the innermost and third cas¬ 
tle, which is properly the residence of the emperor, and two other 
strong, well fortified, but smaller, castles at the sides, also some 
large gardens behind the imperial palace. I call these several divis¬ 
ions castles, because they are every one by itself, enclosed with 
walls and ditches. 

“ The first and outermost castle takes in a large spot of ground, 
which encompasses the second castle, and half the imperial residence, 
and is enclosed itself with walls and ditches, and strong, well- 
guarded, gates. It hath so many streets, ditches, and canals, that 
I could not easily get a plan of it. Nor could I gather anything 
to my satisfaction out of the plans of the Japanese themselves.* 
In this outermost castle reside the princes of the empire, wuth their 
families, living in commodious and stately palaces, built in streets, 
with spacious courts, shut up by strong, heavy gates. The second 
castle takes in a much smaller spot of ground. It fronts the third, 
and residence of the emperor, and is enclosed by the first, but sep¬ 
arated from both by walls, ditches, draw-bridges, and strong gates. 
The guard of this second castle is much more numerous than that 
of the first. In it are the stately palaces of some of the most power¬ 
ful princes of the empire, the councillors of state, the prime minis¬ 
ters, chief officers of the crown, and such other persons, who must 
give a more immediate attendance upon the emperor’s person. 

“ The castle itself, where the emperor resides, is seated somewhat 

* One of these Japanese plans is published as a frontispiece to Titsingh’s 
“Illustrations of Japan.” This plan would seem to embrace only what 
iCampfer speaks of, further on, as “ the palace itself.” 



IMPERIAL PALACE. 


8G3 


higlior than the others, on the top of a hill, which hath been pur¬ 
posely flatted for the imperial palace to be built upon it. It is 
enclosed with a thick, strong wall of free-stone, with bastions stand¬ 
ing out, much after the manner of the European fortifications. A 
rampart of earth is raised against the inside of this wall, and at 
the top of it stand, for ornament and defence, several loug buildings 
and square guard-houses, built in form of towers, several stories 
high. Particularly the structures on that side where the imperial 
residence is are of an uncommon strength, all of free-stone of an 
extraordinary size, which are barely laid upon each other, without 
being fastened either with mortar or braces of iron, which was 
done, they say, that, in case of earthquakes, which frequently hap¬ 
pen in this country, the stones yielding to the shock, the wall itself 
should receive no damage. 

“ Within the palace a square white tower rises aloft above all 
other buildings. It is many stories high, adorned with roofs, and 
other curious ornaments, which make the whole castle look, at a 
distance, magnificent beyond expression, amazing the beholdei*s, as 
do, also, the many other beautiful bended roofs, with gilt dragons 
at the top, which cover the rest of the buildings within the castle. 

“ The side castles are very small, and more like citadels, without 
any outward ornament. There is but one passage to them, out of 
the emperor’s own residence, over a high, long bridge. Both are 
enclosed with strong, high walls, encompassed with broad, deep 
ditches, filled by the great river. In these two castles are bred up 
the imperial princes and princesses. 

“ Behind the imperial residence there is still a rising ground, 
beautified, according to the country fashion, with curious and mag¬ 
nificent gardens and orchards, which are terminated by a pleasant 
wood at the top of a hill, planted with two curious kinds of plane- 
trees, whose starry leaves, variegated with green, yellow, and red, 
are very pleasing to the eye, of which the Japanese aflirm that one 
kind is in full beauty in spring, the other towards autumn. 

“ The palace itself hath but one story, which, however, is of a 
fine height. It takes in a large spot of ground, and hath several 
long galleries and spacious rooms, which, upon putting on or remov¬ 
ing of screens, may be enlarged or brought into a narrower com¬ 
pass, as occasion requires, and are contrived so as to receive at all 



J 


304 JAPAN.—A. D. 

times a convenient and sufiScient light. The chief apartments have 
each its particular name. Such arc, for instance, the waiting- 
room, where all persons that are to be admitted to an audience, 
either of the emperor or his prime ministers of state, wait till they 
are introduced; the council-chamber, where the ministers of state 
and privy councillors meet upon business the hall of thousand 
mats, where the emperor receives the homage and usual presents 
of the princes of the empire and ambassadors of foreign powers; 
several halls of audience ; the apartments for the emperor’s house¬ 
hold, and others. The structure of all these several apartments is 
exquisitely fine, according to the architecture of the country. The 
ceilings, beams, and pillars, are of cedar, or camphor, or jeseriwood, 
the grain of which naturally runs into flowers and other curious 
figures, and is, therefore, in some apartments, covered only with a 
thin, transparent, layer of varnish, in others japanned, or curiously 
carved with birds and branched work, neatly gilt. The floor is 
covered with the finest white mats, bordered with gold, fringes or 
bands; and this is all the furniture to be seen in the palaces of the 
emperor and princes of the empire.” 

The 29th of March, the last of the second Japanese month, 
was appointed for the reception of the Dutch — Makino Bhigo, the 
emperor’s principal counsellor and favorite, being in a hurry to get 
rid of them, because on the fifth of the ensuing month he was to 
have the honor to treat the emperor at dinner, a favor which re¬ 
quires a good deal of time and vast preparations. “ This Bingo,” 
says Kiimpfer, “ tutor to the reigning monarch before he came to 
the crown, is now his chief favorite, and the only person whom he 
absolutely confides in. At our audience it is he that receives the 
emperor’s words and commands from his own mouth, and addresses 
the same to us. He is near seventy years of age, a tall but lean 
man, with a long face, a manly and German-like countenance, slow 
in his actions, and very civil in his whole behavior. He hath the 
character of a just and prudent man, no ways given to ambition, 
nor inclined to revenge, nor bent upon heaping up immoderate 
riches—in short, of being altogether worthy of the great confidence 
and trust the emperor puts in him.” 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 


PERSONAGES TO BE VISITED. — VISIT TO THE EMPEROR. — FIRST AUDIENCE. 

-SECOND AUDIENCE.-VISITS TO TUB HOUSES OF THE COUNCILLORS.— 

VISITS TO THE GOVERNORS OF JBDO AND THE TEMPLE LORDS. — VISITS TO 
THE HOUSES OF THE GOVERNORS OF NAGASAKI. — AUDIENCE OF LEAVE.— 
RETURN. — VISITS TO TEMPLES IN THE VICINITY OF MIAKO. — A. D. 1691-1602. 

The ministers of state and other great men at court, some of 
whom the Dutch were to visit, and to make presents to others, were 
the five chief councillors of state, called Goratzi, or the five elderly 
men; four imperial deputy councillors of state; the three Dsisia, 
as they are called, that is, lords of the temple; the imperial 
commissioners, as the Dutch call them, described by Kampfer as the 
emperor’s attorney-generals for the city of Jedo ; the two governors 
of Jedo; and, last of all, that one of the governors of Nagasaki 
resident at J edo. 

“ On the 29th of March,” * says Kampfer, “ the day appointed 
for our audience, the presents designed for his imperial majesty! were 
sent to court, to be there laid in due order on wooden tables, in the 
hall of hundred mats, as they call it, where the emperor was to 
view them. We followed soon after with a very inconsiderable 
equipage, clad in black silk cloaks, as garments of ceremony, 
attended by three stewards of the governors of Nagasaki, our 
Dosiu or deputy Bugio, two town messengers of Nagasaki, and an 
interpreter’s son, all walking on foot. We three Dutchmen and 
our second interpreter rode on horseback, behind each other, our 
horses led by grooms, who took them by the bridle. Our president, 

* The 23d a considerable shock of an earthquake was felt. The weather 
that day was excessively hot. The next day it was very cold, with snow. 

t The reigning emperor was Tsuma Josi, who had succeeded to the em¬ 
pire in 1681, the fourth in succession from Gongin-Sama the founder of the 
dynasty. The Japanese accounts, according to Titsingh, give him but a bad 
character. 

3P 


866 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691—1692. 


or captain, as the Japanese call him, came after us, carried in a 
norimon, and was followed by our old chief interpreter, carried in 
a kango. The procession was closed by the rest of our servants 
and retinue, walking a-foot at proper distances, so far as they were 
permitted to follow us. 

“ In this order we moved on towards the castle, and after about 
half an hour’s riding came to the first enclosure, which we found 
well fortified with walls and ramparts. This we entered over a 
large bridge across a broad river, on which we saw great numbers 
of boats and vessels. The entry is through two strong gates, with 
a small guard between them. Having passed through the second 
gate, we came to a large place, where we found another more numer¬ 
ous guard, which, however, seemed to be intended more for state 
than defence. The guard-room was hung about with cloth; pikes 
were planted in the ground near the entry, and within it was curi¬ 
ously adorned with gilt arms, lackered guns, pikes, shields, bows, 
arrows and quivers. The soldiers on the ground were in good 
order, clad in black silk, each with two scymetars stuck in their 
girdle. 

“ Having passed across this first enclosure, riding between the 
houses and palaces of the princes and lords of the empire, built 
within its compass, we came to the second, which we found fortified 
much after the same manner, only the gates and inner guard and 
palaces were much more stately and magnificent. We left our 
norimon and kangos here, as also our horses and servants, and were 
conducted across this second enclosure to the Tonoiiiatz [Lord- 
street], which we entered over a long stone bridge; and having 
passed through a double bastion, and as many strong gates, and 
thence about twenty paces further through an irregular street, built, 
as the situation of the ground would allow it, with walls of an un¬ 
common height on both sides, we came to the Fiakninban, that is, 
guard of hundred men, or great guard of the castle. Here we 
•were commanded to wait till we could be introduced to an audience, 
which we were told should be as soon as the great council of state 
was met in the palace. We were civilly received by the two cap¬ 
tains of the guard, who treated us with tea and tobacco. Soon 
after, Tsina-Kami (the governor of Nagasaki resident at Jedo), and 
the two commissioners, came to compliment us, along with some gen- 




IMPERIAL AUDIENCE. 


367 


tlemen of the emperor’s court, who were strangers to us. Having 
waited about an hour, during which time most of the imperial coun¬ 
cillors of state, old and young, went into the palace, some walking 
on foot, others carried in norimons, we were conducted through two 
stately gates, over a large square place, to the palace, to which there 
is an ascent of a few steps leading from the second gate. The place 
between the second gate and the front of the palace is but a few 
paces broad, and was then excessively crowded with throngs of 
courtiers and troops of guards. 

“ Thence we were conducted up two other stair-cases into a spa¬ 
cious room next to the entry on the right, being the place where all 
persons that are to be admitted to an audience wait till they are 
called in. It is a large and lofty room, but, when all the screens 
are put on, pretty dark, receiving but a sparing light from the upper 
windows of an adjoining room. It is otherwise richly furnished, 
according to the country fashion, and its gilt posts, walls and screens, 
are very pleasing to behold. 

“ Having waited here upwards of an hour, and the emperor hav¬ 
ing in the mean while seated himself in the hall of audience, Tsina- 
Kami and the two commissioners came in and conducted our presi¬ 
dent into the emperor’s presence, leaving us behind. As soon as 
he came thither, they cried out aloud, Hollanda Captain! which 
was the signal for him to draw near and make his obeisance. Ac¬ 
cordingly he crawled on his hands and knees to a place showed him 
between the presents, ranged in due order on one side, and the 
place where the emperor sat on the other, and then kneeling, he 
bowed his forehead quite down to the ground, and so crawled back¬ 
wards like a crab, without uttering one single word. So mean and 
short a thing is the audience we have of this mighty monarch. 
Nor are there any more ceremonies observed in the audience he 
gives even to the greatest and most powerful princes of the empire ; 
for, having been called into the hall, their names are cried out 
aloud ; then they move on their hands and feet humbly and silently 
towards the emperor’s seat, and having showed their submission by 
bowing their forehead down to the ground, they creep back again in 
the same submissive posture. 

“ The hall of audience is not in the least like that which hath 
been described and figured by Montanus in his Memorable Embas- 



368 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691—1692. 


sies of the Dutch to the Emperors of Japan. The elevated throne, 
the steps leading up to it, the carpets pendent from it, the stately 
columns supporting the building which contains the throne, the 
columns between which the princes of the empire are said to pros¬ 
trate themselves before the emperor, and the like, have all no man¬ 
ner of foundation but in that author’s fancy. The floor is coveied 
with an hundred mats, all of the same size. Hence it is called 
Sen Sio Siki, that is, The Hall of an Hundred Mats.* It opens 
on one side towards a small court, which lets in the light; on the 
opposite side it joins two other apartments, which are on this occa¬ 
sion laid open towards the same court, one of which is considerably 
larger than the other, and serves for the councillors of state when 
they give audience by themselves. The other is narrower, deeper, 
and one step higher than the hall itself. In this the emperor sits 
when he gives audience, raised only on a few carpets. Nor is it an 
easy matter to see him, the light reaching not quite so far as the 
place where he sits, besides that the audience is too short, and the 
person admitted to it, in so humble and submissive a posture that 
he cannot well have an opportunity to hold up his head and to view 
him. This audience is otherwise very awful and majestic, by reason 
chiefly of the silent presence of all the councillors of state, as also 
of many princes and lords of the empire, the gentlemen of his 
majesty’s bed-chamber, and other chief officers of his court, who 
line the hall of audience and all its avenues, sitting in good order, 
and clad in their garments of ceremony. 

“ Formerly all we had to do, at the emperor’s court, was com¬ 
pleted by the captain’s paying the usual homage, after the manner 
above related. But, for about these twenty years last past, he and 
the rest of the Dutchmen that came up with the embassy to Jedo, 
were conducted deeper into the palace, to give the empress, and the 
ladies of her court, and the princesses of the blood, the diversion 
of seeing us. In this second audience the emperor and the ladies 
invited to it attend behind screens and lattices, but the councillors 

* Sen is not a hundred, but a thousand. According to Klaproth {Annah 
des Dairi, p. 184), ken or kin does not signify a mat, as Kampfer translates 
it (though mats were made of that length), but a space between columns. It 
was a measure of length divided into six Japanese feet, but equal to seven 
feet four inches and a half, Rhineland measure. But see Glossary. 





FAMILIAR RECEPTION. 


869 


of state and other officers of the court sit in the open rooms in their 
usual and elegant order. As soon as the captain had paid his 
homage, the emperor retired into his apartment, and not long after 
we three Dutchmen were likewise called up and conducted, together 
with the captain, through several apartments, into a gallery curi¬ 
ously carved and gilt, where we waited about a quarter of an hour, 
and were then, through several other walks and galleries, carried 
further into a large room, where they desired us to sit down, and 
where several courtiers with shaved heads, being the emperor's 
physicians, the officers of his kitchen, and some of the clergy, came 
to ask after our names, age and the like; but gilt scr^eeiis were 
quickly drawn before us, to deliver us from their throng and 
troublesome importunity. 

“We staid here about half an hour; meanwhile the court met in 
the imperial apartments, where we were to have our second audi¬ 
ence, and whither we were conducted through several dark galleries. 
Along all these several galleries there was one continued row of 
life-guardsmen, and nearer to the imperial apartments followed in 
the same row some great officers, who lined the front of the hall 
of audience, clad in their garments of ceremony, bowing their heads 
and sitting on their heels. 

“ The hall of audience consisted of several rooms looking towards 
a middle place, some of which were laid open towards the same, 
others covered by screens and lattices. Some were of fifteen mats, 
others of eighteen, and they were a mat higher or lower, according 
to the quality of the persons seated in the same. The middle place 
had no mats at all, they having been taken away, and was conse¬ 
quently the lowest, on whose floor, covered with neat varnished 
boards, we were commanded to sit down. The emperor and his 
imperial consort sat behind the lattices on our right. As I was 
dancing, at the emperor’s command, I had an opportunity twice of 
seeing the empress through the slits of the lattices, and took notice 
that she was of a brown and beautiful complexion, with black Euro¬ 
pean eyes, full of fire, and from the proportion of her head, which 
was pretty large, I judged her to be a tall woman, and about thirty- 
six years of age. By lattices, I mean hangings made of reed, split 
exceedingly thin and fine, and covered on the back with a fine, 
transparent silk, with openings about a span broad, for the persons 



370 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691—1692. 


behind to look through. For ornament’s sake, and the better to 
hide the persons standing behind, they are painted with divers 
figures, though it would be impossible to see them at a distance 
when the light is taken off behind. 

“ The emperor himself was in such an obscure place that we 
should scarce have known hun to be present had not his voice dis¬ 
covered him, which yet was so low, as if he purposely intended to 
be there incognito. Just before us, behind other lattices were the 
princes of the blood and the ladies of the empress and her court. I 
took notice that pieces of paper vrere put between the reeds, in 
some parts of the lattices, to make the openings wider, in order to 
a better and easier sight. I counted about thirty such papers, 
which made me conclude, that there was about that number of per¬ 
sons sitting behind. 

“ Bingo sat on a raised mat, in an open room by himself, just 
before us, towards our right, on which side the emperor sat behind 
the lattices. On our left, in another room, were the councillors of 
state of the first and second rank, sitting in a double row in good 
and becoming order. The gallery behind us was filled with the 
chief officers of the emperor’s court and the gentlemen of his bed¬ 
chamber. The gallery, which led into the room v/here the emperor 
was, was filled with the sons of some princes of the empire, then at 
court, the emperor’s pages and some priests. After this manner it 
was that they ordered the stage on which we were now to act. 

“ The commissioners for foreign affairs having conducted us into 
the gallery before the hall of audience, one of the councillors of 
state of the second rank came to receive us there and to conduct 
us to the above-described middle place, on which we were com¬ 
manded to sit down, having first made our obeisances after the Jap- 
anese manner, creeping and bowing our heads to the ground, towards 
that part of the lattices behind which the emperor was. The chief 
interpreter sat himself a little forward, to hear more distinctly, and 
we took our places on his left hand all in a row. After the usual 
obeisances, Bingo bid us welcome in the emperor’s name. The 
chief interpreter received the compliment from Bingo’s mouth, and 
repeated it to us. Upon this the ambassador made his compliment 
in the name of his masters, returning their most humble thanks to 
the emperor for having graciously granted the Dutch liberty of 




FAMILIAR RECEPTION. 


371 


commerce. This the chief interpreter repeated in Japanese, having 
prostrated himself quite to the ground, and speaking loud enough to 
be heard by the emperor. The emperor’s answer was again 
received by Bingo, who delivered it to the chief interpreter, and he 
to us. He might have, indeed, received it himself from the 
emperor’s own mouth, and saved Bingo this unnecessary trouble; 
but I fancy that the words, as they flow out of the emperor’s 
mouth, are esteemed too precious and sacred for an immediate 
transit into the mouth of persons of a low rank. 

“ The mutual compliments being over, the succeeding part of this 
solemnity turned to a perfect farce. We were^ asked a thousand 
ridiculous and impertinent questions. They desired to know how 
old each of us was, and what was his name, which we were com¬ 
manded to write upon a bit of paper, in anticipation of which we 
had provided ourselves with an European inkhorn. This paper, 
together with the inkhorn itself, we were commanded to give to 
Bingo, who delivered them both into the emperor’s hands, reaching 
them over below the lattice. The captain, or ambassador, was 
asked the distance of Holland from Batavia, and of Batavia from 
Nagasaki; also which of the two was the most powerful, the Direc¬ 
tor-general of the Dutch East India Company at Batavia, or the 
Prince of Holland? As for my own particular, the following 
questions were put to me. What external and internal distempers 
I thought the most dangerous and most difiicult to cure ? How I 
proceeded in the cure of cancerous humors and imposthumations 
of the inner parts ? Whether our European physicians did not 
search after some medicine to render people immortal, as the Chi¬ 
nese physicians had done for many hundred years ? Whether we 
had made any considerable progress in this search, and which was 
the last remedy conducive to long life that had been found out in 
Europe ? To which I returned in answer, that very many Euro¬ 
pean physicians had long labored to find out some medicine, which 
should have the virtue of prolonging human life and preserving 
people in health to a great age; and having thereupon been asked 
which I thought the best, I answered, that I always took that to 
be the best which was found out last, till experience taught us a 
better; and being further asked, which was the last, I answered, a 
certain spirituous liquor, which could keep the humors of our body 



3T2 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1691—1692. 


fluid and comfort the spirits. This general answer proved not 
altogether satisfactory; for I was quickly desired to Jet them know 
the name of this excellent medicine, upon which, knowing that 
whatever was esteemed by the Japanese had long and high-sounding 
names, I returned in answer it was the Sal volatile Oleosum Sylvii. 
This name was minuted down behind the lattices, for which purpose 
I was commanded to repeat it several times. The next question 
was, who it was that found it out, and where it was found out? 

I answered. Professor Sylvius, in Holland. Then they asked 
whether I could make it up. Upon this our resident whispered 
me to say no; but I answered, yes, I could make it up, but not 
here. Then it was asked whether it could be had at Batavia; and 
having returned, in answer, that it was to be had there, the emperor 
desired that it should be sent over by the next ships. 

“The emperor, hitherto seated almost opposite to us, at a 
considerable distance, now drew nearer, and sat himself down 
on our right, behind the lattices, as near us as possible. He or¬ 
dered us to take off our cappas, or cloaks, being our garments of 
ceremony; then to stand upright, that he might have a full view of 
us; again to walk, to stand still, to compliment each other, to dance, 
to junip, to play the drunkard, to speak broken Japanese, to read 
Dutch, to paint, to sing, to put our cloaks on and off. Meanwhile 
we obeyed the emperor’s commands in the best manner we could, I 
joining to my dance a love-song in High Herman. In this manner, 
and with innumerable such other apish tricks, we must suffer our¬ 
selves to contribute to the emperor’s and the court’s diversion. The 
ambassador, however, is free from these and the like commands, foi, 
as he represents the authority of his masters, some care is taken 
that nothing should be done to injure or prejudice the same; and 
besides he showed so much gravity on his countenance and whole 
behavior, as was sufficient to convince the Japanese that he was 
not at all a fit person to have such ridiculous and comical com¬ 
mands laid upon him. 

“ Having been thus exercised for a matter of two hours, though 
with great apparent civility, some shaved servants came in and put 
before each of us a small table with Japanese victuals, and a couple 
of ivory sticks instead of knives and forks. We took and eat some 
little things, and our old chief interpreter, though scarce able to 






VISITS TO THE HIGH OFFICERS. 


373 


walk, was commanded to carry away the remainder for himself. We 
were then ordered to put on our cloaks again and to take our leave ; 
which we gladly and without delay complied with, putting thereby 
an end to this second audience.* The imperial audience over, we 
were conducted back by the two commissioners to the waiting-room, 
where we took our leave of them also. 

“ It was now already three o’clock in the afternoon, and we had 
still several visits to make to the councillors of state of the first 
and second rank. Accordingly we left forthwith, saluted as we 
went by the officers of the great imperial guard, and made our 
round a-foot. The presents had been carried beforehand to every 
one’s house by our clerks. They consisted of some Chinese, Ben¬ 
galese, and other silk stufis, some linen, black serge, some yards of 
black cloth, gingangs, pelangs, and a flask of Tent wine. 

“ We were everywhere received by the stewards and secretaries 
with extraordinary civility, and treated with tea, tobacco and 
sweetmeats, as handsomely as the little time we had to spare would 
allow. The rooms where we were admitted to audience were filled 
behind the screens and lattices with crowds of spectators, who 
would fain have obliged us to show them some of our European 
customs and ceremonies, but could obtain nothing excepting only a 
short dance at Bingo’s house (who came home himself a back way), 
and a song from each of us at the youngest councillor’s of state. We 
then returned again to our kangos and horses, and having got out of 
the castle, through the northern gate, went back to our inn another 

* In his account of his second visit to Jedo, a year later, Kampfer gives the 
following account of this second audience : “ Soon after we came in, and 

had, after the usual observances, seated ourselves in the place assigned us, 
Bingo-sama welcomed us in the emperor’s name, and then desired us to sit 
upright, to take off our cloaks, to tell him our names and age, to stand up, 
to walk, to turn about, to sing songs, to compliment one another, to be angry, 
to invite one another to dinner, to converse one with another, to discourse in 
a familiar way like father and son, to show how two friends or man and wife 
compliment or take leave of one another, to play with children, to carry them 
about in our arms, and to do many more things of a like nature. They made 
us kiss one another like man and wife, which the ladies, by. their laugliter, 
showed themselves to be particularly well pleased with. It was already four 
in the afternoon when we left the hall of audience, after having been exercised 
after this manner for two hours and a half.” 

32 



374 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1691—1692. 


way, on the left of which we took notice that there were strong walls 
and ditches. It was just six in the evening when we got home, 
heartily tired. 

“Friday, the 30th of March, we rode out again betimes, in the 
morning, to make some of our remaining visits. The presents, such 
as above-described, were sent before us by our Japanese clerks, who 
took care to lay them on trays or tables, and to arrange them in 
good order, according to the country fashion. We were received 
at the entry of the house, by one or two of the principal domestics, 
and conducted to the apartment where we were to have our au¬ 
dience. The rooms round the hall of audience were everywhere 
crowded with spectators. As soon as we had seated ourselves we 
were treated with tea and tobacco. Then the steward of the 
household came in, or else the secretary, either alone or with 
another gentleman, to compliment us, and to receive our com¬ 
pliments, in his master’s name. The rooms were everywhere so 
disposed as to make us turn our faces towards the ladies, by 
whom we were very generously and civilly treated with cakes 
and several sorts of sweetmeats. We visited and made our pres¬ 
ents, this day, to the two governors of Jedo, to the three eccle¬ 
siastical judges (or temple lords), and to the two commissioners for 
foreign affairs, who lived near a mile from each other, one in the 
south-west, the other in the north-east, part of the castle. They 
both profess themselves to be particular patrons of the Dutch, and 
received us accordingly with great pomp and magnificence. The 
street was lined with twenty men armed, who, with their long staffs, • 
which they held on one side, made a very good figure, besides that 
they helped to keep off the throng of people from being too trouble¬ 
some. We were received upon our entering the house, and intro¬ 
duced to audience, much after the same manner as we had been in 
other places, only we were carried deeper into their palaces and 
into the innermost apartment, on purpose that we should not be 
troubled with numbers of spectators, and be at more liberty our¬ 
selves as well as the ladies who were invited to the ceremony. Op¬ 
posite us, in the hall of audience, there were grated lattices, instead 
of screens, for the length of two mats (twelve feet) and upwards, 
behind which sat such numbers of women of the commissioner’s own 
family and their relations and friends, that there was no room left. 



BILLS OF FARE. 


375 


We had scarce seated ourselves, when seven servants, well clad, 
came in, and brought us pipes and tobacco, with the usual apparatus 
for smoking. Soon after, they brought in something baked, laid on 
japanned trays, then some fish fried, all after the same manner, by 
the same number of servants, and always but one piece in a small 
dish; then a couple of eggs, one baked, the other boiled and shelled, 
and a glass of old, strong saki standing between them. After this 
manner we were entertained for about an hour and a half, when 
they desired us to sing a song and to dance; the first we refused, 
but satisfied them as to the last. In the house of the first commis¬ 
sioner’s a drink made of sweet plums was offered us instead of saki. 
In the second commissioner’s house we were presented first of all 
with mange bread,* in a brown liquor, cold, with some mustard- 
seed and radishes laid about the dish, and at last with some orange- 
peels with sugar, which is a dish given only upon extraordinary 
occasions, in token of fortune and good will. We then drank some 
tea, and having taken our leave, went back to our inn, where we 
arrived at five in the evening.” 

[The following bills of fare are given in Kampfer’s account of his 
second visit to Jedo: “ At the first commissioner’s : 1. Tea. 2. 

Tobacco, with the whole set of instruments for smoking. 3. Philo¬ 
sophical or white syrup. 4. A piece of stienbrassen, a very scarce 
fish, boiled in a brown sauce. 5. Another dish of fish, dressed with 
bran-flower and spices. 6. Cakes of eggs rolled together. 7. Fiied 
fish, presented on skewers of bamboo. 8. Lemon-peels with sugar. 

“ After every one of these dishes they made us drink a dish of 
saki, as good as ever I tasted. We were likewise presented twice, in 
dram cups, with wine made of plums, a very pleasant and agreeable 
liquor. Last of all, we were again presented with a cup of tea. 

“ At the second commissioner’s we were treated, after tea and 
tobacco, with the following things : 1. Two long slices of mange, 

dipped into a brown sop or sauce, with some ginger. 2. Hard 
eggs. 3. Four common fish fried and brought in on bamboo skew¬ 
ers. 4. The stomachs of carps, salt, in a brown sauce. 5. Two 

♦ This is what Kampfer calls, in another place, Mansies, and describes as 
a sort of round cakes, which the Japanese had learned to make of the Portu¬ 
guese, as big as a common hen’s egg, and sometimes filled within with bean- 
flour and sugar. 



376 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691—1692. 


gmall slices of a goose, roasted and warm, presented in unglazed 
earthen dishes. 

“ Good liquor was drank about plentifully, and the commission¬ 
er’s surgeon, who was to treat us, did not miss to take his full dose. 
jEach guest was separately served with the above dishes on little 
tables or salvers, about a foot square and a few inches high.] 

« On the 31st of March, we rode out again at ten in the morn¬ 
ing, and went to the houses of the three governors of Nagasaki, 
two of whom were then absent on duty at Nagasaki. We pre¬ 
sented them on this occasion only with a flask of Tent each, they 
having already received their other presents at Nagasaki. We 
were met by Tsina Kami, the one then at Jedo, just by the door of 
his house. He was attended by a numerous retinue, and, having 
called both our interpreters to him, he commanded them to tell us 
his desire that we should make ourselves merry in his house. 
Accordingly we were received extraordinarily well, and desired to 
walk about and to divert ourselves in his garden, as being now in 
the house of a friend at Jedo, and not in the palace of our governor 
and magistrate at Nagasaki.* We were treated with warm dishes 
and tea, much after the same manner as we had been by the com¬ 
missioners, and all the while civilly entertained by his own brother, 
and several persons of quality of his friends and relations. 

“ Having staid about two hours, we went to Tonosama’s house, 
where we were conducted into the innermost and chief apartment, 
and desired twice to come nearer the lattices on both sides of the 
room. There were more ladies behind the screens here than, I 
think, we had as yet met with in any other place. They desired 
us, very civilly, to show them our clothes, the captain’s arms, rings, 
tobacco-pipes, and the like, some of which were reached them 
between or under the lattices. The person that treated us in the 
absent governor’s name, and the other gentlemen who were then pres¬ 
ent in the room, entertained us likewise very civilly, and we could 
not but take notice that everything was so cordial that we made no 
manner of scruple of making ourselves merry, and diverting the com¬ 
pany each with a song. The magnificence of this family appeared 

* See the char.acter given of Tsina-Kami as a harsh enemy of the Dutch, 
or, at least, a strict disciplinarian over them ; ante, p. 263-4. 




AUDIENCE OF LEAVE. 


377 


fully by the richness and exquisiteness of this entertainment, which 
was equal to that of the first commissioner’s, but far beyond it in 
courteous civility and a free, open carriage. After an hour and a 
half we took our leave. The house of Tonosama is the furthermost 
to the north or north-west we were to go to, a mile and a half from 
our inn, but seated in by much the pleasantest part of the town, 
where there is an agreeable variety of hills and shrubbery. The 
family of Tubosama, the third governor, lives in a small, sorry 
house near the ditch which encompasses the castle. We met here 
but a few women behind a screen, who took up with peeping at us 
through a few holes, which they made as they sat down. The 
strong liquors, which we had been this day obliged to drink in larger 
quantities than usual, being by this time got pretty much into our 
heads, we made haste to return home, and took our leave as soon 
as we had been treated, after the usual manner, with tea and 
tobacco.” 

Two or three days after followed the audience of leave prepara¬ 
tory to the return to Nagasaki. Of this Kampfer gives much the 
fullest account in his narrative of his second visit to Jedo, which 
we follow here. 

Having proceeded to the palace as at the first audience, after 
half an hour’s stay in the waiting-room, the “ Captain Hollanda ” 
was called in before the councillors of state, who directed one of 
the commissioners to read the usual orders to him, five in number, 
chiefly to the effect that the Dutch should not molest any of the 
boats or ships of the Chinese or the Lew Chewans trading to Japan, 
nor bring in any Portuguese or priests. 

These orders being read, the director was presented with thirty 
gowns, laid on three of the Japanese wooden stands or salvers, which 
he crept upon all fours to receive, and in token of respect held one 
of the gowns over his head. 

This ceremony over, the Dutch were invited to stay to dinner, 
which was served up in another room. Before each was placed a 
small table or salver, on which lay five fresh, hot, white cakes, as 
tough as glue, and two hollow cakes of two spans in circumference, 
made of flour and sprinkled with sesamum seeds. A small porce¬ 
lain cup contained some bits of pickled salmon in a brown sauce, 
by the side of which lay two wooden chop-sticks. Tea also was 
32 * 



378 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691—1692. 


served up, but in “ poor and sorry ” brown dishes, and the tea itself 
proved to be little better than hot water. Fortunately the Dutch, 
seldom caught napping upon that point, had provided themselves, 
before leaving home in the morning, with “a good substantial 
breakfast; ” and, besides, they had been treated in the guard-room 
with fresh manges and with sweet brown cakes of sugar and bean 
flour. 

While they were eating this dinner, “ so far from answering to 
the majesty and magnificence of so powerful a monarch, that a worse 
one could not have been had at any private man’s house,” several 
young noblemen busied themselves in examining their hats, coats, 
dress, &c. Dinner over, after half an hour in the waiting-room, 
they were conducted, through passages and galleries which they did 
not remember to have seen before, to the hall of audience, which, by 
a change in the position of some of the screens, presented quite a 
new appearance. They were put in the very same uncarpeted spot 
as at their first audience, and were again called upon, as then, to 
answer questions, dance, sing songs and exhibit themselves. Among 
the persons called in were two physicians, with whom Kiimpfer had 
some professional conversation ; also several shaven priests, one of 
whom had an ulcer on his shin, as to which Kampfer’s opinion was 
asked. As it was a fresh sore,' and the inflammation about it slight, 
he judged it to be of no great consequence. At the same time he 
advised the patient not to be too fanailiar with saki, pretending to 
guess by his wound, what was obvious enough from his red face and 
nose, that he was given to drinking, — a shrewd piece of profes¬ 
sional stratagem, which occasioned much laughter at the patient’s 
expense. 

“ This farce over, a salver was brought in for each guest, on 
which was placed the following Japanese dishes: 1. Two small, 
hollow loaves, sprinkled with sesamum seeds. 2. A piece of white, 
refined sugar, striped. 3. Five candied kernels of the kai tree, 
not unlike almonds. 4. A flat slice of cake. 5. Two cakes, made 
of flour and honey, shaped like a tunnel, brown, thick and some¬ 
what tough. 6. Two slices of a dark reddish and brittle cake, 
made of bean flour and sugar. 7. Two slices of a rice flour cake, 
yellow and tough. 8. Two slices of another cake or pie, of which 
the inside seemed to be of quite a different substance from the crust. 



PRESENTS. 


379 


9. A large mange boiled and filled with brown sugar, like treacle. 
Two smaller manges^ of the common bigness, dressed after the same 
manner. A few of these things were eaten, and the rest, accord¬ 
ing to the Japanese custom, were taken home by the interpreter, 
for whom they proved quite a load, especially as he was old and 
rheumatic.” 

Having been dismissed with many ceremonies, they went next to 
the house of the acting governor of Jedo, who received them with 
great cordiality, and gave them an entertainment consisting of a 
cup of tea, boiled fish with a very good sauce, oysters boiled and 
brought in the shells, with vinegar, a dish which, it was intimated, 
had been prepared from the known fondness of the Dutch for it; 
several small slices of a roasted goose ; fried fish and boiled eggs, 
with very good liquor served up between the dishes. Thence they 
went to the houses of the governors of Nagasaki, and returned home 
at night thoroughly tired out, but well satisfied with their recep¬ 
tion. 

Meanwhile, the customary presents began to come in, which, in 
case the director was at home, were presented and received in quite 
a formal manner, — a speech being made by the bearer and an an¬ 
swer returned, after which he was treated with tobacco, tea, sweet¬ 
meats and Dutch liquors. Besides thirty gowns from the emperor, 
ten were sent by each of the five ordinary councillors, six by each 
of the four extraordinary councillors, five by each of the three lords 
of the temple, and two, “ pretty sorry ones,” Kiimpfer says, by each 
of the governors of Jedo, — in all, a hundred and twenty-three, of 
which those given by the emperor went to the Company, and all the 
rest to the director, constituting no inconsiderable perquisite. 

It is the custom, on the return of the Dutch, when they reach 
Miako, to take them to see some of the principal temples. The 
first one visited by Kampfer was the Buddhist temple and convent, 
where the emperor lodges when he comes to visit the Dairi. The ap¬ 
proach to this temple was a broad, level, gravel walk, half a mile in 
length, lined on both sides with the stately dwellings of the ecclesi¬ 
astics attached to it. Having alighted and passed a lofty gateway, 
the visitors ascended to a large terrace, finely gravelled and planted 
with trees and shrubs. Passing two handsome structures, they 
ascended a beautiful stairway to a magnificent building, with a 



380 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1691-1692. 


front superior to that of the imperial palace at Jedo. In the mid¬ 
dle of the outermost hall was a chapel containing a large idol with 
curled hair, surrounded with smaller idols. On both sides were 
some smaller and less elaborate chapels; behind were two apart¬ 
ments for the emperor’s use, opening upon a small pleasure-garden 
at the foot of a mountain, clothed with a beautiful variety of trees 
and shrubs. Behind this garden, and on the ascent of the moun¬ 
tain, was a chapel dedicated to the predecessor of the reigning em¬ 
peror, who had been deified under the name of Gingosin. 

“ The visitors were next conducted across a square to another 
temple, of the size of an ordinary European church, supported on 
thirty pillars, or rather fifty-six, including those of the gallery 
which surrounded it. These pillars were, however, but nine feet 
high, and of wood, and, with the beams and cornices, were painted 
some red, some yellow. The most striking feature of this building, 
which was entirely empty within, was its bended roofs, four in num¬ 
ber, one over the other, of which the lowest and largest jutted over 
the gallery. There were said to be not less than twenty-seven 
temples within the enclosure of this monastery. 

“ Up the hill, near a quarter of a mile distant, was a large bell, 
which Kampfer describes as rather superior in size to the smaller 
of the two great Moscow bells (which he had seen), rough, ill-cast 
and ill-shaped. It was struck on the outside by a large wooden 
stick. The prior who, with a number of the monks, received and 
entertained the Dutch visitors, was an old gentleman, of an agreea¬ 
ble countenance and good complexion, clad in a violet or dark 
purple-colored gown, with an alms bag in his hand richly embroi¬ 
dered with gold. 

“ The largest and most remarkable of the temples seen at Miako, 
was that called Daibods, on the road to Fusimi. It was enclosed 
by a high wall of free-stone, the front blocks being near twelve feet 
square. A stone staircase of eight steps led up to the gateway, on 
either side of which stood a gigantic image, near twenty-four feet 
high, with the face of a lion, but otherwise well-proportioned, black, 
or of a dark purple, almost naked, and placed on a pedestal six feet 
high. That on the left had the mouth open and one of the hands 
stretched out. The opposite one had the mouth shut and the hand 
close to the body. They were said to be emblems of the two first 





TEMPLES AT MIAKO. 


381 


and chief principles of nature, the active and passive, the giving 
and taking, the opening and shutting, generation and corruption. 
Within the gateway were sixteen stone pillars on each side for 
lamps, a water basin, &c.; and on the inside of the enclosing wall 
was a spacious walk or gallery, open towards the interior space, 
but covered with a roof which was supported by two rows of pil¬ 
lars, about eighteen feet high and twelve feet distant from each 
other. 

“ Directly opposite the entrance, in the middle of the court, stood 
the temple, much the loftiest structure which Kampfer had seen in 
Japan, with a double roof supported by ninety-four immense wooden 
pillars, of at least nine feet diameter, some of them of a single piece, 
but others of several trunks put together as in the case of the masts 
of our large ships, and all painted red.” 

Within, the floor was paved with square flags of free-stone, — a 
thing not seen elsewhere. There were many small, narrow doors 
running up to the first roof, but the interior, on account of its great 
height, the whole up to the second roof forming but one room, was 
very badly lighted. Nothing was to be seen within except an 
immense idol, sitting (not after the Japanese, but after the Indian 
manner, with the legs crossed before it) on a terete flower, sup¬ 
ported by another flower, of which the leaves were turned upwards, 
the two being raised about twelve feet from the floor. The idol 
which was gilt all over, had long ears, curled hair, a crown on the 
head, which appeared through the window over the first roof, with 
a large spot not gilt on the forehead. The shoulders, so broad as 
to reach from one pillar to another, a distance of thirty feet, were 
naked. The breast and body were covered with a loose piece of 
drapery. It held the right hand up, the left rested edgewise on the 
belly. 

The Quanwon temple was a structure very long in proportion to 
its breadth. In the midst was a gigantic image of Quanwon, with 
thirty-six arms. Sixteen black images, bigger than life, stood round 
it, and on each side two rows of gilt idols with twenty arms each. 
On either side of the temple, running from end to end, were ten 
platforms rising like steps one behind the other, on each of which 
stood fifty images of Quanwon, as large as life,—a thousand in all, 
each on its separate pedestal, so arranged as to stand in rows of 






882 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1776—1776. 


five, one behind the other, and all visible at the same time, each 
with its twenty hands. On the hands and heads of all these are 
placed smaller idols, to the number of forty or more; so that the 
whole number, thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three, 
according to the estimate of the Japanese, does not appear exag¬ 
gerated. 

Klaproth* gives some curious details as to these temples, derived 
from a Japanese Guide Book, such as is sold to visitants. The 
dimensions of the temple and of the image of Daibods, or the great 
Buddha, are given with great minuteness. The body is seventy- 
seven feet five and one fourth inches high (Rhineland measure), and 
the entire statue with the lotus, eighty-nine feet eight and three 
fourths inches. The head of the colossus protrudes through the 
roof of the saloon.t 

At a little distance is a chapel called Mimitsuka, or “ tomb of 
ears,” in which are buried the ears and noses of the Coreans who 
fell in the war carried on against them by Taiko-Sama, who had 
them salted and conveyed to Japan. The grand portico of the 
external wall of the temple is called Ni-wo-mon, “ gate of the two 
kings.” On entering this vast portico, which is eighty-three and’ 
one half feet high, on each side appears a colossal figure twenty- 
two feet in height, representing the two celestial kings, Awoon and 
Jugo, the usual porters at the Buddhist temples. Another edifice 
placed before the apartment of the great Buddha, contains the 
largest bell known in the world. It is seventeen feet two and one 
half inches high, and weighs one million seven hundred thcrusand 
Japanese pounds (katties), equal to two millions sixty-six thousand 
pounds English. Its weight is consequently five times greater than 
the great bell at Moscow. If this is the same bell described by 
Kiimpfer, here is a remarkable discrepancy. 

* Annals des Empereurs du Japaiiy p. 405, note, and in the Asiatic 
Journal for Sept. 1831. 

t The history of this image, derived from the same source, is given in a 
note on p. 150. The roof of the temple is supported on ninety-two columns, 
each upwards of six feet in diameter. 





CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


FURTHER DECLINE OF THE DUTCH TRADE. — DEGRADATION OP THE JAPANESE 

COINS.-THE DUTCH THREATEN TO WITHDRAW FROM JAPAN. — RESTRICTIONS 

ON THE CHINESE TRADE.-PROBABLE CAUSE OP THE POLICY ADOPTED BY 

THE JAPANESE. — DRAIN OP THE PRECIOUS METALS.-NEW BASIS UPON 

WHICH FUTURE TRADE MUST BE ARRANGED. 

Notwithstanding the lamentations uttered by Kampfer in the 
name of the Dutch factors, the trade to Japan had by no means in 
his time reached its lowest level, and it was subjected soon after 
his departure to new and more stringent limitations. 

In the year 1696 appeared a new kind of kobang. The old 
kobang was twenty carats eight and a half, and even ten, grains 
fine; that is, supposing it divided into twenty-four parts, twenty 
parts and a half were fine gold.* The new kobang was thirteen 
carats six or seven grains fine, containing, consequently, only two 
thirds as much gold as the old one, and yet the Dutch were required 
to receive it at the same rate of sixty-eight mas of silver. 

The old kobang had returned on the coast of Coromandel a profit 
of twenty-five per cent., the new produced a loss of fifteen or sixteen 
per cent.; but some of the old kobangs being still paid over at the 
same rate as the new, some profits continued to be derived from 
the gold, till, in 1710, the Japanese made a still more serious 
change in their coin, by reducing the weight of the kobang nearly 
one half, from forty-seven kanderins (two hundred and seventy-four 
grains) to twenty-five kanderins (one hundred and forty-six grains), 
which, as the Dutch were still obliged to receive these new kobangs 
at the rate of sixty-eight mas, caused a loss of from thirty-four to 

* In one thousand parts, eight hundred and fifty-four were pure gold. 
The pure metal in our American coins is nine hundred parts in one thousand ; 
or, in the old phraseology, they are twenty-one carats and twelve grains 
fine. 


384 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1775—1776. 


thirty-six per cent. From this time the old kobangs passed as 
double kobangs, being reckoned at twice their former weight. The 
kobangs of the coinage of 1730 were about five per cent, better 
than the preceding ones; but the Dutch trade continued rapidly to 
decline, especially after the exportation of copper was limited, in 
1714, to fifteen thousand chests, or piculs, and, in 1721, to ten 
thousand piculs annually. From this time, two ships sufficed for 
the Dutch trade. 

For thirty years previous to 1743, the annual gross profits on 
the Japanese trade had amounted to five hundred thousand florins 
(two hundred thousand dollars), and some years to six hundred 
thousand (two hundred and forty thousand dollars); but in 1743 
they sunk below two hundred thousand florins (eighty thousand 
dollars), which was the annual cost of maintaining the establish¬ 
ment at Desima. 

Upon this occasion, a “ Memoir on the Trade of Japan, and the 
Causes of its Decline,” was drawn up by Imhoff, at that time gov¬ 
ernor-general at Batavia, which affords information on the change 
in the value of the kobang, and other matters relating to the Dutch 
trade to Japan, not elsewhere to be found.* It is apparent from 
this memoir that the trade was not managed with the sagacity 
which might have been expected from private merchants. The 
cargoes were ill assorted, and did not correspond to the requisi¬ 
tions of the Japanese. They, on the other hand, had repeatedly 
offered several new articles of export, which the Company had 
declined, because, in the old routine of their trade, no profita¬ 
ble market appeared for these articles at the prices asked for 
them. 

The Dutch attempted to frighten the Japanese, by threatening to 
close their factory altogether, but this did not produce much effect, 
and, since the date of Imhoff’s memoir, the factory appears not to 
have done much more than to pay its expenses. That the Japanese 
were not very anxious for foreign trade, appears by their having 
restricted the Chinese, previous to 1740, to twenty junks annually, 
and at a subsequent period to ten junks. 

* Having been discovered by Sir Stamford Raffles among the public docu¬ 
ments at Batavia, he published an abstract of it in the appendix B to his 
History of Java. 



DRAIN OF THE PRECIOUS METALS. 


885 


The Dutch imagined that the above-mentioned changes in the 
coins of Japan were made solely with a view to their trade and 
to curtail their profits. Raffles suggests, on the other hand, 
that this degradation of the Japanese coins was the natural re¬ 
sult of the immense export of the precious metals, which, in the 
course of the two hundred years from 1540 to 1740, must have 
drained Japan of specie to the value of perhaps not less than two 
hundred millions of dollars. The exports of foreign nations, as 
we have seen, were almost entirely metallic, and the mines of 
J apan were by no means so productive as to be able to withstand 
this constant drain. The export of silver was first stopped. Then 
gold was raised to such a value as effectually to stop the exporta¬ 
tion of that, and restrictions were, at the same time, put upon the 
exportation of copper. This sagacious conjecture of Raffles is con¬ 
firmed by a tract on the Origin of the Riches of Japan, written, in 
1708, by Arrai Tsihigo-no-Kami Sama, a person of high distinc¬ 
tion at the emperor’s court, of which the original was brought to 
Europe by Titsingh, and of 'which Klaproth has given a translation, 
in .the second volume of the Nouveau Journal Asiatique. The 
author of this tract states, perhaps from official documents, the 
amount of gold and silver exported from Nagasaki, from 1611 to 
1706, as follows: Gold, 6,192,600 kobangs; silver, 112,268,700 
taels. Of this amount, 2,397,600 kobangs, and 37,420,900 taels 
of silver had been exported since 1646. The exports of copper 
from 1663 to 1708 are stated at 1,114,446,700 lbs.(katties?). 

This export is represented as having commenced in the time of 
Nobunanga,* when the mines of Japan had first begun to be largely 
productive, and, previous to 1611, to have been much greater than 
afterwards, which is ascribed by this author in part to the amounts 
sent out of the country, by the Catholic natives, to purchase masses 
for their souls. Much alarm is expressed lest, with the decreased 
product of the mines, and continual exportation, Japan should be 

* Yet Pinto, whose knowledge of Japan preceded the time of Nobunanga, 
repi’esents silver as very abundant there ; and, indeed, it seems to have been 
this abundance which first attracted the Portuguese trade. On the whole, 
one does not derive a very high idea, from this tract, of the extent or correct¬ 
ness of the knowledge possessed by the Japanese of their own history, even 
the more recent periods of it. 

33 




886 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1775—1776. 


reduced to poverty. Titsingh ascribes the origin of this tract to the 
extravagance of the reigning emperor, which it was desired to check 
by good advice; but the exportation of the precious metals by for¬ 
eigners is evidently the point aimed at. 

“ There goes out of the empire annually,” says this writer, “ about 
one hundred and fifty thousand kobangs, or a million and a half in 
ten years. It is, therefore, of the highest importance to the public 
prosperity to put a stop to these exportations, which will end in 
draining us entirely. Nothing is thought of but the procuring 
foreign productions, expensive stuffs, elegant utensils, and other 
things not known in the good old times. Since Gongin, gold, silver 
and copper have been abundantly produced; unfortunately the 
greater part of this wealth has gone for things we could have done 
quite as well without. The successors of Gongin ought to reflect 
upon this, in order that the wealth of the empire may be as lasting 
as the heavens and the earth.” Ideas like those broached in this 
tract seem to be the basis of the existing policy of Japan on the 
subject of foreign trade; and, independently of this, the failure of 
the Japanese mines renders any return to the old system of the Por¬ 
tuguese and Dutch traffic quite out of the question. Japan has no 
longer gold and silver to export, and if a new trade is to be estab¬ 
lished with her, it must be on an entirely new basis, the exports to 
consist of something else than metallic products. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 


THUNBERQ’s visit to japan. — SEARCHES AND EXAMINATIONS. — SMUG¬ 
GLING. -INTERPRETERS. — DESIMA.-IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.-UNICORN’S 

HORN AND GINSENG.-SOY. — THE DUTCH AT DESIMA. — JAPANESE MIS¬ 
TRESSES. -JAPANESE WOMEN. — STUDYING THE LANGUAGE.-BOTANIZING. 

-CLOCKS. — NEW year’s DAY.—TRAMPLING ON IMAGES.—DEPARTURE 

FOR JEDO.-JOURNEY THROUGH THE ISLAND OF XIMO.-JAPANESE 

HOUSES AND FURNITURE.—MANUFACTURE OF PAPER.—PRACTICE OF BATH¬ 
ING.— SIMONOSEKI.—VOYAGE TO OSAKA.-CHILDREN.-FROM OSAKA 

TO MIAKO.-AGRICULTURE.-ANIMALS. — A. D. 1775—1776. 

From the time of Kampfer’s departure from Desima, of all 
the Dutch residents and visitors there, none, for a period of up¬ 
wards of eighty years, favored the world with their observations. 
They went to Japan in pursuit of money, not to obtain knowledge, 
either for themselves or others. 

At length, in 1775, Charles Peter Thunberg, a Swedish physi¬ 
cian, naturalist and traveller, to gain an opportunity of seeing 
Japan, obtained the same official situation which Kiimpfer had held 
before him. Being an enthusiastic botanist, he was sent to the 
East by some wealthy merchants of Amsterdam to obtain new trees 
and plants, as well for the medical garden of that city as for their 
own private collections. Circumstances caused him to spend three 
years at the Cape of Good Hope, whence he proceeded to Bata¬ 
via. He left that port June 20, 1775, and arrived off Nagasaki 
the 14th of the following August. From an experience of more 
. than a hundred years, the Company reckoned on the loss of one out 
of every five ships sent to Japan, though care was taken to select 
the best and strongest vessels.* 

The searches and examinations previous to landing were the 

* This was a considerable improvement upon the state of things in the time 
of Xavier, when every third vessel was expected to be lost. See p. 49. 


388 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1775—1776. 


same described by Kiimpfer. Hitherto it had been usual to allow 
the captains of the vessels to pass at pleasure to and from their 
ships without being searched; they, with the directors of the Dutch 
factory, being the only persons exempt from that ceremony. The 
captains had taken advantage of this exemption to dress themselves 
out, for the convenience of smuggling, in a showy, blue silk, silver- 
laced coat, made very wide and large, in which dress they generally 
made three trips a day to- and from Desima, being often so loaded 
down with goods that they had to be supported by a sailor under 
each arm. Thunberg’s captain rigged himself out in the same 
style; but, much to his disappointment and that of the other 
Dutchmen, whose private goods the captains had been accustomed 
to smuggle for a commission, the Japanese officers who boarded the 
ship brought orders that the captain should dress like the rest; that 
he and the director also should be searched when they landed, and 
that the captain should either stop on board, or, if he landed, 
should remain on shore, being allowed to visit the ship only twice 
during her stay. “ It was droll enough,” says Thunberg, “ to see 
the astonishment which the sudden reduction in the size of our bulky 
captain excited in the major part of the ignorant Japanese, who 
before had always imagined that all our captains were actually as 
fat and lusty as they appeared to be.” 

In the year 1772, one of the Dutch ships from Batavia, disabled 
in a violent storm, had been abandoned by her crew, who, in their 
haste, or believing that she would speedily sink, had neglected the 
standing order of the Company, in such cases, to set her on fire. 
Some days after she drifted to the Japanese shore, and was towed 
into the harbor of Nagasaki, when the Japanese found on board a 
number of chests marked with the names of the principal Dutch 
officers, and full of prohibited goods, — and it Avas to this discovery 
that the new order was ascribed. 

The examination of the clothes and persons of all who passed to 
and from the ship was very strict. The large chests were emptied, 
and the sides, top and bottom, sounded to see if they A,vere not hol¬ 
low. Beds were ripped open and the feathers turned over. Iron 
' spikes were thrust into the butter-tubs and jars of sweetmeats. A 
square hole was cut in the cheeses, and a thick, pointed wire thrust 
through them in every direction. Even some of the eggs brought 





thunberg’s visit. 


389 


from Batavia were broken, lest they might be shams in which val¬ 
uables were concealed. 

Formerly, according to Thunberg, the Dutch took the liberty to 
correct with blows the Japanese hull employed as laborers on 
board the ships; but in his time this was absolutely prohibited. 
He adds, that the respect of the Japanese for the Dutch was a 
good deal diminished by observing “ in how unfriendly and unman¬ 
nerly a style they usually behave to each other, and the brutal 
treatment which the sailors under their command frequently expe¬ 
rience from them, together with the oaths, curses and blows, with 
which the poor fellows are assailed by them.” 

The interpreters would seem to have adopted, since the time of 
Kiimpfer (as he makes no mention of it), the practice of medicine 
among their countrymen after the European manner. This made 
them very inquisitive as to matters of physic and natural history, 
and very anxious to obtain European books, which they studied 
diligently. Kiimpfer speaks of the interpreters with great indigna¬ 
tion as the most watchful and hateful of spies. Thunberg appears 
to have established very good terms with them. New restrictions, 
however, had been placed on their intercourse with the resident 
Dutchmen, whom, to prevent smuggling, they were not allowed to 
visit, except in company with one or two other officers. 

Desima, from Thunberg’s description of it, appears to have 
altered very little since Kampfer’s residence there; though glass win¬ 
dows had lately been brought from Batavia, by some of the Dutch 
residents, as a substitute for the paper windows of the Japanese. 
The permanent residents were now twelve or thirteen (there had 
been but seven in Kampfer’s time), besides slaves brought from 
Batavia, of whom each Dutchman had one. 

The goods sent out by the Company, at the time of Thunberg’s 
visit, were sugars (almost the only article of consumption which the 
Japanese do not produce for themselves), elephant’s teeth, sappan- 
wood for dyeing, tin, lead, bar-iron, fine chintzes of various sorts, 
Dutch broadcloths, shalloons, silks, cloves, tortoise-shell. China- 
root and Costus Arahicm. The goods of private adventurers were 
safifron, Venice treacle, Spanish liquorice, ratans, spectacles, look¬ 
ing-glasses, watches, Ninsi-root or ginseng, and unicorns’ horns. 
This latter article, the horn of the Monodon monoceros, a product 
33 * 





390 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


of the Greenland fishery, had been lately introduced. The Japan¬ 
ese ascribed to it wonderful virtues as a medicine, believing 
it to have the power to prolong life, strengthen the animal spirits, 
assist the memory, and cure all sorts of complaints. Thun- 
berg had carried out as his venture thirty-seven katties (about fifty 
pounds) of this horn, which sold for five thousand and seventy-one 
taels, or upwards of six thousand dollars j so that, after paying the 
advances made to him at* Batavia, he had a handsome surplus to 
expend in his favorite pursuit of natural history. 

The genuine Chinese ginseng [Panax quinquefolium) sold at a 
price full as high as that of unicorn’s horn. The American article, 
being regarded as not genuine, was strictly prohibited,but was smug¬ 
gled in to mix with the Chinese.* 

Scientific works in the Butch language, though not a regular 
article of sale, might be often exchanged to advantage with the 
interpreters. 

The Company imported a quantity of silver coin, but private per¬ 
sons were not allowed to do so, though a profit might have been made 
on it. The sale by Kamhang continued exactly as Kampfer had 
described it. No Japanese money came into the hands either of 
the Company or of individuals from the sale of their goods by 
kambang. They only acquired a credit, which they were able to 
exchange for Japanese articles. 

The chief articles of export were copper, camphor and lackered 
goods; porcelain, rice, saki, soy,t were also exported. The profits 

* Kampfer liad seen the ginseng cultivated in gardens in Japan, but it 
was not supposed to possess the virtues of the Chinese article. Father Jon- 
toux, one of tlie Jesuit missionaries in China, employed by the emperor in 
preparing a map of the region north of the great wall, had an opportunity to 
see the ginseng growing wild. He sent home, in 1711, a full account of it, 
with drawings (which may be found in Voyages au JSTord, vol. iv.), and 
suggested, from the similarity of the climate, that the same plant might be 
found in Canada, as it soon was by the Jesuit missionaries there. 

t This sauce, used in great quantities in Japan, and exported to Batavia 
by the Dutch, whence it has become known throughout the East Indies and 
also in Europe, is made from the soy bean {Dolichos 5oia), extensively used 
by the Japanese in the making of soup. The soy is prepared as follows: 
the beaus are boiled till they become rather soft, when an equal quantity of 
pounded barley or wheat is added. These ingredients being mixed, the com- 





IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 


391 


of this trade had been greatly curtailed. “ Formerly,” says Thun- 
berg, “ it was so very profitable to individuals that hardly any¬ 
body but favorites were sent out as chiefs, and when these had 
made two voyages, it was supposed that they were rich enough to 
be able to live on the interest of their fortunes, and that, therefore, 
they ought to make room for others. At present a chief is obliged 
to make many voyages. His success is now no more to be envied, 
and his profits are thought to be very inconsiderable.” 

Of the general enjoyments of a residence at Desima Thunberg 
does not speak very highly. “ An European that remains here is, 
in a manner, dead and buried in an obscure corner of the globe. 
He hears no news of any kind; nothing relative to war or other 
misfortunes and evils that plague and infest mankind; and neither 
the rumors of inland or foreign concerns delight or molest his ear. 
The soul possesses here one faculty only, which is the judgment 
(if, indeed, it be at all times in possession of that). The will is 
totally debilitated, and even dead, because, to an European, there is 
no other will than that of the Japanese, by which he must exactly 
square his conduct. 

“ The European way of living is, in other respects, the same as 
in other parts of India, luxurious and irregular. Hence, just as at 
Batavia, we pay a visit every evening to the chief, after having 
walked several times up and down the two streets. These evening 
visits generally last from six o’clock till ten, and sometimes eleven 
or twelve at night, and constitute a very disagreeable way of life, 
fit only for such as have no other way of spending their time than 
droning over a pipe of tobacco and a bottle.” 

The Europeans remaining at Desima had each two or three hand¬ 
some rooms, besides the store-rooms in the lower story. These they 
occupied without rent, the only expense being that of furnishing 

pound is set away for twenty-four hours in a warm place to ferment. An 
equal quantity of salt is then added, and twice and a half as much water. It 
is stirred several times a day for several days, and then stands well covered 
for two or three months, when the liquid portion is decanted, strained and 
put in wooden casks. It is of a brown color, improves with age, but varies 
in quality, according to the province where it is made. The Dutch of Desima 
cork up the better qualities in glass bottles, boiling the liquor first in an iron 
kettle, to prevent fermentation, by which it is liable to be spoiled. 



892 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1775-1776. 


them. As the winter set in, the cold, with an easterly or northerly 
wind, was quite piercing, and they had fires of charcoal in a large 
copper kettle with a broad rim. Placed in the middle of the room 
it warmed the whole apartment for hours together. The looseness 
of the doors and windows prevented any ill consequences from the 
gases. As the residents all dined and supped at a common table, 
kept at the Company’s expense, their outlays did not amount to 
much —“except,” says Thunberg, “they squander away their 
money on the fair sex, or make expensive entertainments and give 
suppers to each other.” 

The account which Thunberg gives of the Japanese mistresses 
of the Dutch is very much the same with that given by Kampfer. 
These women, when spoken for to an officer appointed for that 
purpose, come attended by a little serving-maid,— one of the young 
apprentices of the houses to which they belonged, — who brought 
daily from the town her mistress’ food, made her tea, kept her 
things in order, and ran on errands. One of these female compan¬ 
ions could not be had for less than three days, but might be kept a 
year, or even several years. The price was eight mas, or one dol¬ 
lar a day, besides her maintenance and presents of silk dresses, gir¬ 
dles, head-ornaments, &c. According to Thunberg, children were 
very seldom born of these connections. He was assured, but did 
not credit it, that if such a thing happened, the child, if a boy, 
would be murdered; and that, if a girl, it would be sent at fifteen 
to Batavia; but of this he knew of no instance. There was, in 
his time, one girl about six years old, born of a Japanese mother, 
living on the island with her father. Later accounts go to show 
that Dutch Japanese children are by no means such rarities as 
Thunberg represents.* 

The women painted their lips with colors, made of the Catharinus 
tinctorius, or bastard saffron, rubbed on little porcelain bowls. If 
laid on very thin, the lips appeared red ; if thick, it gave them a 

* The murdering of the children may be explained by the folloTving pas¬ 
sage from one of the letters of Cocks, the English factor, written at Firando, 
in December, 1614 : “ James Turner, the fiddling youth, left a wench with 

child here, but the w-e, the mother, killed it so soon as it Avas born, 

although I gave her two taels in plate [silver] before to nourish it, because 
she should not kill it, it being an ordinary thing here.” 




THE DUTCH AT DESIMA. 


393 


violet hue, esteemed by the Japanese as the more beautiful. The 
married women were distinguished by blacking their teeth with a 
foetid mixture, so corrosive that the lips had to be protected from 
it while it was laid on. It eat so deeply into the teeth that it took 
several days and much trouble to scrape it away. “To me at 
least,” says Thunberg, “ a wide mouth with black shining teeth had 
an ugly and disagreeable appearance.” The married women dis¬ 
tinguished themselves also by pulling out their eyebrows; and an¬ 
other distinction was that they knotted their girdles before, and the 
single women behind. 

Thunberg noticed that venereal diseases, which he ascribed to 
European intercourse, were very common,* and he congratulated 
himself on the questionable service of having introduced the mercu¬ 
rial treatment. 

As he had plenty of leisure and little taste for the Dutch fashion 
of killing time, he endeavored to find more rational and profitable 
employment. The residents were still allowed native servants, who, 
though not interpreters, had learned to speak the Dutch language. 
But the Dutch were strictly prohibited from learning the Japanese; 
and though the interpreters were sufi&ciently well inclined, Thun¬ 
berg encountered many difficulties in his study of that language. 
It was only after many inquiries that he found at last an old dic¬ 
tionary, in the Latin, Portuguese and Japanese, in quarto, contain¬ 
ing nine hundred and six pages. The title-page was gone, but the 
book purported to have been compiled by the joint labors of the 
Jesuits at Japan, as well European as natives. It belonged to one 
of the interpreters, who possessed it as a legacy from his ancestors, 
and he refused to sell it for any price.t 

Afterwards, at Jedo, he saw a book in long quarto, about an 
inch thick, printed on Japanese paper, entirely in Japanese charac¬ 
ters, except the title-page, which bore the imprint of the Jesuits, 
with the date, Nagasaki, a. d. 1598. 

“ Through incapacity in some and indolence in others,” the Dutch 
possessed no vocabulary of the J apanese, and all the knowledge 
the Dutch residents had of it did not go beyond calling by name a 

* Cocks also had noticed their existence a century and a half earlier. 

t This was doubtless the lexicon printed at Amakusa in 1595. See note 
p. 125, also Appendix A. 



394 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


few familiar articles. Thunberg has annexed to his Travels a short 
Japanese vocabulary, but he does not appear to have made any 
great progress in the language. 

With much difficulty he obtained, about the beginning of Febru¬ 
ary, leave to botanize.* Every excursion cost him sixteen or eigh¬ 
teen taels, as he was obliged to feast from twenty to thirty Japanese 
officials, by whom he was always attended. On the neighboring 
hills he noticed many burying-grounds, containing tombstones of 
various forms, sometimes rough, but more frequently hewn, with 
letters, sometimes gilt, engraved upon them. Before these stones 
were placed vessels, made of large bamboos, containing water, with 
branches of flowers. 

He also noticed, both around Nagasaki and afterwards on his 
journey to Jedo, the pits, or rather large earthen jars, sunk by the 
road-side for the collection of manure, both liquid and solid. To 
the foetid exhalations from these open pits, and to the burning of 
charcoal without chimneys, he ascribed the red and inflamed eyes 
very common in Japan. In the gardens he saw growing the com¬ 
mon red beet, the carrot, fennel, dill, anise, parsley, and asparagus; 
leeks, onions, turnips, radishes, lettuce, succory, and endive. I^ng 
ranges of sloping ground, at the foot of the mountains, were planted 
with the sweet potato. Attempts were also made to cultivate the 
common potato, but with little success. Several kinds of yams 
(DioscorecB) grew wild in the vicinity of Nagasaki, of which one 
species was used for food, and, when boiled, had a very agreeable 
taste.t Buckwheat, "Windsor beans (Vida faba), several species of 
French beans (Phascolus), and peas {Piswn sativum)^ were com¬ 
monly cultivated; also, two kinds of cayenne pepper [Capsicum), 
introduced probably by the Portuguese. Tobacco was also raised, 
for the use and the name of which the J apanese were indebted to 

* A precedent of a similar permission, formerly granted to the medical 
men of the factory, was found, but, upon a critical examination of Thun- 
berg’s commission, he appeared to be a surgeon, whereas he to whom per¬ 
mission had formerly been granted had been surgeon’s mate, and it took 
three months to get over this difficulty, and to persuade the Japanese that 
these two officers were in substance the same. 

t This species, the Dioscorea Japonica (confounded sometimes with the 
sweet potato), has been lately introduced into the United States. 




VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 


895 


the Portuguese. He observed, also, hemp, the Acorus, strongly 
aromatic; a kind of ginger {Amomum mioga) ; the Mentha pipe¬ 
rita ; the Alcea rosea, and Malva Mauritiana, cultivated for their 
flowers; the Celastrus alatus, a branch of which, stuck at a young 
lady’s door, is thought by the Japanese to have the power of making 
her fall in love with you; the common juniper-tree; the bamboo, 
and the box; also, the ivy; the China-root (Smilax China); wild 
figs, -with small fruit like plums {Fiscus pumila and erecta) ; the 
pepper bush [Figara peperita); a species of madder {Rubia car- 
data), and several species of the Pologonum, used for dying. Also, 
two species of nettles, the bark of which furnished cordage and 
thread, and the seeds of one species an oil. The yellow flowers of 
the colewort {Brassica arientalis), which was largely cultivated for 
the oil afforded by its seeds, presented through the spring a beauti¬ 
ful appearance. This oil was used for lamps. Oil for food, used, 
however, but sparingly, was expressed from the Sesamum orientale 
and the mustard seed. Solid oils, for candles, were obtained from 
the nuts of the varnish-tree {Rhus remix), and from those of the 
Rhus succedanea, the camphor-tree, the Melea azedarach, and the 
Cammelia sasanqua.^ 

* Kampfer, who describes the Cammelia under the Japanese name of 
Tsubaki, speaks of it as a large shrub, almost a tree. Thunberg represents 
it as attaining the size of a large tree, exceedingly common in groves and 
gardens, and a very great favorite, as well for its polished, evergreen leaves, 
as from the size, beauty and variety, of its blossoms, which appear from 
April to October, single and red in the wild ones, but double, and of several 
colors, red, purple, white, &c., in the cultivated varieties, of which the 
Japanese assured Kampfer there were several hundreds. Siebold describes 
the wild kind as a small tree, growing in clumps and thickets, often with 
many shoots from the same root, from fifteen to twenty feet high ; while a 
much larger size is attained by the cultivated kinds. The name of Cammelia 
was given to the genus by Linnaeus, in honor of George Joseph Kamel, a 
Jesuit missionary, who sent to Ray descriptions of the plants of the Philip¬ 
pine Islands, published by him at the end of his “ History of Plants.” The 
single-flowering variety was introduced into England, about 1739, by Lord 
Petre, probably from China, of which it is a native, in common with quite a 
number of plants, to which the specific epithet Japanese has been applied. 
As late as 1788 (as appears from Curtis’ Botanical Magazine, vol. i.) 
it was very rare and costly. Down to that time it had been treated as a 
stove-plant, but soon after, on Curtis’ suggestion, it was introduced into 




396 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1775-1776. 


In striking fire a tinder is used made of the woolly part of the 
leaves of the common wormwood. The famous moxa, spoken of 
hereafter, is a finer preparation of the same root. Instead of soap 
the meal of a species of bean is employed. 

The bark of the Skiinmi, or anise-tree (a near relation of the 
mangolia tribe, and whose flowers and leaves are much employed in 
religious ceremonies), is used as a time-measurer. A box, a foot 
long, is filled with ashes, in which are marked furrows, in parallel 
lin^s, strewed with fine powder of this bark. The lid being closed, 
with only a small hole left to supply air, the powder is set on fire 
at one end, and consumed very slowly, and the hours, marked be¬ 
forehand on these furrows, are proclaimed in the day-time by strik¬ 
ing the bells in the temples, and in the night by the watch striking 
together two pieces of wood. Another method of measuring time 
is by burning slow match, divided into knots to mark the hours. 
The Japanese also have a clock, the mechanism of which is described 
in a subsequent chapter. 

“ The first of January, according to custom,” says Thunberg, 
“ most of the Japanese that had anything to do at the Dutch fac¬ 
tory, came to wish us a happy new year. Dressed in their holiday 
clothes, they paid their respects to the director, who invited them 
to dine with him. The victuals were chiefly dressed after the Euro¬ 
pean manner, and, consequently, but few of the dishes were tasted 
by the Japanese. Of the soup they all partook, but of the other 
dishes, such as roasted pigs, hams, salad, cakes, tarts, and other 
pastries, they ate little or nothing, but put on a plate a little of 
every dish, and, when it was full, sent it home, labelled with the 
owner’s name; and this was repeated several times. Salt beef, and 
the like, which the Japanese do not eat, were set by, and used as a 
medicine. The same may be said of the salt butter, of which I 

conservatories, of 'which it soon became the pride, and -was even found hardy 
enough to bear the -winter in the open air. Previous to 1806, a number of 
varieties -were imported from China ; many others were produced in Europe, 
and already, by 1825, these varieties had become very numerous (see Botan¬ 
ical Magazine, vols. xl. and lvi.). The Cammelia sasanqua is smaller, 
with smaller leaves and flowers, very closely resembling the tea-plant ; and, 
in packing their teas, the Chinese are in the habit of putting some of the 
blossoms into the chests. It is extensively cultivated for its oil, in China as 
well as in Japan. 




JOURNEY TO COURT. 


397 


was frequently desired to cut a slice for some of the company. It 
is made into pills, and taken daily in consumptions and other dis¬ 
orders. After dinner, warm saki was handed round, which was 
drank out of lackered wooden cups. 

“ On this festive occasion, the director invited from the town 
several handsome girls, partly for the purpose of serving out the 
saki, and partly to dance and bear the girls company who were 
already on the island. After dinner, these girls treated the Japan¬ 
ese to several of their own country messes, placed on small square 
tables, which were decorated with an artificial fir-tree, the leaves 
of which were made of green silk, and, in several places, sprinkled 
over with white cotton, in imitation of the winter’s snow. The 
girls never presented the saki standing, but, after their own fashion, 
sitting. In the evening they danced, and about five o’clock the 
company took their leave.” 

The I9th of February, 1776, on which fell the beginning of the 
Japanese year, was celebrated according to the Japanese custom, 
all of them going visiting, dressed up in their holiday clothes, and 
wishing their neighbors joy; and, indeed, this interchange of con¬ 
gratulations is kept up, more or less, through the first month. 

On the two last days of the year a general settlement of accounts 
takes place. Fresh credit is then given for six months, when a 
new settlement takes place. The rate of interest was high, ranging 
from eighteen to twenty per cent. Thunberg was told that, after 
new-year’s day, there was no right to demand settlement of the last 
year’s accounts. 

Shortly after the Japanese new-year, took place the trampling 
of images, which ceremony, according to the information obtained 
by Thunberg, was still performed by all the inhabitants of Nagasaki, 
exactly as in Kiimpfer’s time. 

On the 4th of March the director set out for the emperor’s 
court, accompanied, as usual, by the secretary of the factory, and 
by Thunberg as physician. In Kiimpfer’s day these two latter 
persons had been obliged to make the journey on horseback, ex¬ 
posed to cold, rain, and all the inclemencies of the weather. Since 
then they had obtained the privilege of travelling in norimons, 
equally with the director. Dr. Thunberg seems to have been well 
satisfied with his vehicle, which he describes as both handsome and 
34 



398 


JAPAI^.—A. D. 1775-1776. 


convenient. Each norimon traveller had with him a bottle of red 
wine, and another of Dutch ale, taken daily from the large stock 
provided for the journey, and preferred by the Europeans to tea, 
which they regarded as a “ great relaxer of the stomach.” Each 
traveller had also an oblong lackered box, containing “ a double 
slice of bread and butter.” In order to support the dignity of the 
Dutch East India Company, the bed equipage which they carried 
with them consisting of coverlids, pillows, and mattresses, was cov¬ 
ered with the richest open-work velvets and silks. Their retinue, 
on horseback and on foot, was numerous and picturesque. They 
were received everywhere with the honor and respect paid to the 
princes of the land j and, besides, says Thunberg, were so well 
guarded “ that no harm could befall us, and, at the same time, so 
well attended that we had no more care upon our minds than a 
sucking child; the whole of our business consisting in eating and 
drinking, or in reading or writing for our amusement, in sleeping, 
dressing ourselves, and being carried about in our norimons.” 

At setting out, each of the three Dutchmen received from the 
purveyor fifty taels, for their individual expenses. This was the 
first Japanese money which Thunberg had seen, and this, with other 
sums doled out to them from time to time, was chiefly spent in 
presents to their attendants. The disbursement on this score, at 
starting, amounted to ten taels each. 

In the early part of their journey, they followed a somewhat 
different road from Kiimpfer’s, all the way by land, not crossing 
either the bay of Omura, nor that of Simabara. They passed, how¬ 
ever, through Swota, as Kiimpfer had done, famous for its large 
water-jars, and visited the hot springs in that neighborhood, and 
also Samja, capital of the province of Fisen, remarkable for its 
handsome women, its rice and its fine porcelain. The roads were 
found such as Kiimpfer had described them. Proceeding onward, 
still by Kiimpfer’s route, they reached Kokura on the ninth of 
March. The following description of Japanese houses corresponds 
sufficiently well with that of Kiimpfer, while it gives a rather more 
distinct, and somewhat less flattering, idea of them. “ The houses 
are very roomy and commodious, and never more than two stories — 
at most twenty feet — high, of which the lower one is inhabited, 
and the upper serves for lofts and garrets, and is seldom occupied. 




DWELLING-HOUSES. 


399 


The mode of building in this country is curious and peculiar. Every 
house occupies a great extent of ground, and is built in general of 
wood and plaster, and white-washed on the outside so as to look ex¬ 
actly like stone. The beams all lie horizontal or stand perpendicular. 
Between these beams, which are square and far from thick, bamboos 
are interwoven, and the space filled up with clay, sand and lime. 
The roofs are covered with tiles of a singular make, very thick and 
heavy. The more ordinary houses are covered with chips [shingles], 
on which are frequently laid heavy stones to secure them. In the 
villages and meaner towns I sometimes saw the sides of the houses, 
especially behind, covered with the bark of trees, which was secured 
by laths nailed on it to prevent the rain from damaging the wall. 

“ The whole house makes but one room, which can be divided 
according as it may be found necessary, or thought proper, into 
many smaller ones. This is done by moving slight partitions, con¬ 
sisting of wooden frames, pasted over with thick painted paper, 
which slide with great ease in grooves made in the beams of the 
floor and roof for that purpose. Such rooms were frequently par¬ 
titioned off for us and our retinue, during our journey; and when 
a larger apartment was wanted for a dining-room, or any other 
purpose, the partitions were in an instant taken away. One could 
not see, indeed, what was done in the next room, but one fre¬ 
quently overheard the conversation that passed there. 

“ In each room there are two or more windows, which reach from 
the ceiling to within two feet,gf the floor. They consist of light 
frames which may be taken out, put in, and slid behind each other, 
at pleasure, in two grooves made for this purpose in the beams 
above and below them. They are divided by slender rods into 
panes of a parallelogrammatic form, sometimes to the number of 
forty, and pasted over on the outside with fine white paper, which 
is seldom if ever oiled, and admits a great deal of light, but pre¬ 
vents any one from seeing through it. The roof always projects a 
great way beyond the house, and sometimes has an addition which 
covers a small projecting gallery that stands before each window. 
From this little roof go slanting inwards and downwards, several 
quadrangular frames, within which hang blinds made of rushes, 
which may be drawn up and let down, and serve not only to hinder 
people that pass by from looking into the house, but chiefly when it 



400 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1776—1776. 


rains to prevent the paper windows from being damaged. There 
are no glass windows here; nor have I observed mother-of-pearl 
or muscovy talc [mica, or isinglass] used for this purpose. 

“ The houses have neither the elegant appearance nor the con¬ 
venience and comfort of ours in Europe. The rooms are not so 
cheerful and pleasant, nor so warm in the winter, neither are they 
so safe in case of fire, nor so durable. Their semi-transparent paper 
windows, in particular, spoil the houses, as well in their inside as 
outside appearance. Neither chimneys nor stoves are known 
throughout the whole country, although the cold is very intense, 
and they are obliged to make fires in their apartments from Octo¬ 
ber to March. The fires are made in copper kettles, of various 
sizes, with broad projecting edges. This mode of firing is liable, 
however, to this inconvenience, that the charcoal sometimes smokes, 
in consequence of which the apartment becomes dirty and black, and 
the eyes of the company suffer exceedingly. 

“ The floors are always covered with mats made of a fine species 
of rush {Juncus effusus), cultivated in low spots for that purpose, 
and interwoven with rice straw. These mats are from three to four 
inches thick, and of the same size throughout the country, viz., two 
yards long and one broad. The insides of the houses, both ceiling 
and walls, are covered with a handsome, thick paper, ornamented 
with various flowers. These hangings are either green, yellow or 
white; and sometimes embellished with silver and gold. As the 
paper is greatly damaged by the ^oke in winter, it is renewed 
every third or fifth year.* 

* The Japanese paper, as well for writing and printing as for the household 
uses to which it is so extensively put, is manufactured from the bark of the 
young twigs of the paper mulberry {Mortis papyrijira). Kampfer has 
given a particular account of it in the appendix to his work. That account, 
which, now that so many experiments are on foot for the manufacture of 
paper, may suggest some useful hints, is abridged by Thunberg as follows : 

“ After the tree has shed its leaves in the month of December, they cut off 
the young shoots about three feet in length, which they tie up in bundles and 
boil in a lye of ashes, standing inverted in a copper kettle till the bark is so 
shrunk that half an inch of the woody part is seen bare at the ends. If the 
twigs grow dry before they can be boiled, they are first soaked in water for 
fo\ir-and-twenty hours. When sufficiently boiled they are taken out and 
the bark cut lengthwise and stripped off. After being soaked in water for 




HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 


401 


“ The furniture in this country is as simple as the style of build¬ 
ing. Neither cupboards, bureaus, sofas, beds, tables, chairs, clocks, 
looking-glasses, nor anything else of the kind, is to be seen. To the 
greater part of these the Japanese are utter strangers. Their soft 
floor-mats serve them for chairs. A small table, or rather salver, 
about twelve inches square and four high, is set before each person 
in company at every meal, of which there are three a day. The 
food (rice, soup and fish being the principal articles) is served in 
lackered wooden cups. Most other nations of the East sit with 
their legs laid across before them — the Chinese and Japanese lay 
their feet under their bodies, and make a chair of their heels. 
When the hour of rest approaches, a soft mattress, stuffed with cot- 

three hours, the exterior black skin and the green part beneath it is scraped 
off with a knife, and the bark is then sorted into qualities ; that which is a 
full year’s growth makes the best paper, and the less mature an inferior 
quality. Thus prepared and sorted, it is again boiled in a clear lye, being 
perpetually stirred, and fresh lye supplied to make up for the evaporation ; 
and this process is continued till the bark is dissolved, as it were, separating 
into flocks and fibres. It must then be washed — a process requiring care and 
judgment, as, if not carried far enough, the paper will be coarse, and if too 
far, thin and slazy. This is done in a running stream, by means of a sieve 
containing the material, which is perpetually stirred till it is diluted into a 
delicate, soft pap. For the finer kinds this washing is repeated, a piece of 
linen being substituted for the sieve, to prevent the finer parts from being 
carried away. After being washed, it is beaten with sticks of hard wood, on 
a wooden table, till it is brought to a pulp, which if put into water will dis¬ 
solve and disperse like meal. 

“ It is then mixed in a tub with a clammy infusion, obtained by soaking 
rice in cold water, and with another mucilaginous infusion, obtained in the 
like manner from the root of Oreni {Hibiscus manihot). This mixture, 
upon which much depends, and the proportions of which vary with the sea¬ 
son of the year, succeeds best in a narrow tub, and requires perpetual stir¬ 
ring. The whole is then put into a larger tub, from which the sheets are 
taken out and put between mats made of delicate grass straw, and laid one 
upon another in heaps, being pressed at first lightly, but gradually harder 
and harder, till the water is squeezed out. They are then laid upon a board 
to dry in the sun ; after which they are packed in bundles for sale and 
use. 

“ For the coarser kinds of paper other sorts of bark are sometimes used. 

“ The Japanese paper is very close and strong. It will bear being twisted 
into ropes, and is occasionally used even for dresses.” 

34 * 




402 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1776—1776. 


ton, is spread out on the mats. The Japanese have no pillows, 
instead of which they use oblong lackered pieces of wood. With 
the above apparatus for sleeping, the Japanese bed-chamber is put 
in order, and he himself up and dressed, in the twinkling of an eye ; 
as, in fact, scarcely a longer time is requisite for him to throw the 
gown over him, which serves for dress by day and bed-clothes at 
night, and to gird it round his waist. 

“ Though mirrors do not decorate the walls, they are in general 
use at the toilet, made not of glass, but of a composition of copper 
and zinc highly polished, and fixed obliquely in a stand of wood 
made for that purpose. Cleanliness is a constant object with these 
people, and not a day passes in which they do not wash themselves, 
whether they are at home or on a journey. In all towns and vil¬ 
lages, inns and private houses, there are baths.” He adds, how¬ 
ever, what goes rather against this alleged cleanliness, that as the 
poor, to save expense, are accustomed to use water in which others 
have repeatedly bathed, they are apt in that way to take infectious 
disorders. Neither do their open manure vaults, placed by the road¬ 
sides and in the very fronts of their houses, agree so well with this 
eulogy. 

At Kokura the Dutch bespoke, against their return, rice and 
charcoal for the factory at Desima. Having crossed to Simonoseki, 
they embarked, on the 12th of March, in a large Japanese junk, for 
Osaka ; but, having made less than half the voyage, they encoun¬ 
tered contrary winds, which drove them a long distance back, and 
detained them for near three weeks. The weather was so cold as 
to make fires comfortable, and colds and catarrhs, endemical to 
Japan from the changeability of its climate, were very prevalent. 
All this time they slept on board, but had several times an oppor¬ 
tunity to go on shore to amuse themselves at the inns and temples, 
the Japanese sailors being always anxious to land in order to 
bathe. 

The country all along this coast was mountainous, which was the 
reason of going by sea instead of by land, the land road being very 
difficult. This coast seemed, nevertheless, to be highly cultivated, 
the mountains in many places resembling beautiful gardens. 

At the places where they landed, the children were very numer¬ 
ous. “ I observed,” says Thunberg, “ that the chastisement of chil- 



MANAGEMENT OP CHILDREN. 


403 


dren was very moderate. I very seldom heard them rebuked or 
scolded, and hardly ever saw them flogged or beaten, either in pri¬ 
vate families or on board the vessels; while, in more civilized and 
enlightened nations, these compliments abound.* In the schools 
one might hear the children read all at once, and so loud as almost 
to deafen one.” 

Whenever the Japanese went on shore, they killed geese and 
ducks for the Dutchmen to eat; but at sea they had scruples about 
killing them, though in flne weather the Chinese teal (Atzos gale- 
riculata)^ and several sorts of ducks, fairly covered the water, so 
as to look at a distance like great islands. Dut, though scrupulous 
themselves, they made no objections to Thunberg’s killing them; 
though, not being allowed the use of fire-arms, it does not appear 
how he did it. 

At length, on the 7th of April, after a disagreeable and danger¬ 
ous passage of twenty-six days, they reached the harbor of Fiogo, 
whence the next day, partly by land and partly in small boats, 
they proceeded to Osaka. Here each of the travellers disbursed 
sixteen taels in presents to the captain and crew of the vessel, for 
the hire of which the sum of four hundred and eighty taels was paid 
by the East India Company. They staid at Osaka only a single 
night, during which they bespoke from some merchants, who visited 
them t with samples, several articles, such as insects of copper, arti¬ 
ficial trees varnished, fans of various kinds, writing paper, paper 
hangings, &c. They left Osaka early in the morning, by torch¬ 
light, and, following the same road which Kiimpfer had taken, reached 

* Caron, whose opportunities of knowledge upon this point were much 
superior to those of Thunberg or any subsequent observer, is very explicit 
upon this point. “ The parents educate their children with great care. 
They are not forever bawling in their ears, and they never use them roughly. 
When they cry they show a wonderful patience in quieting them, knowing 
well that young children are not of an age to profit by reprimands. This 
method succeeds so well, that Japanese children, ten or twelve years old, 
behave with all the discretion and propriety of grown people. They are not 
sent to school till they are seven or eight years old, and then they are not 
forced to study things for which they have no inclination.” 

t In Kampfer’s time no personal intercourse was allowed with those of 
whom articles were bought at Osaka, Miako and Jedo. In this respect there 
would seem to have been a relaxation. 





404 


JAPAN. —A. D. 1775—1776. 


Miako at night. “ Except in Holland,” says Thunberg, “ I never 
made so pleasant a journey as this, with regard to the beauty 
and delightful appearance of the country. Its population, too, 
and cultivation, exceed all expression. The whole country, on 
both sides of us, as far as we could see, was nothing but a fertile 
field, and the whole of our long day’s journey extended through 
villages, of which one began where the other ended.” 

The farmers were now preparing their lands for rice. The fields, 
by means of a raised border, lay almost entirely under water. This 
was the case even with those sides of the hills intended for rice. 
They were laid out in terraces, the water collected on the higher 
grounds being regulated by means of walls or dams, so as to be let 
on or shut off at pleasure. There were, also, reservoirs, constructed 
to retain the contents of the flooded streams, against occasions of 
drought. The rice was sown first very close and thick, and when 
about six inches high was transplanted into the fields, in tufts of 
several plants, placed about six inches apart. This was done by the 
women, who waded about in water at least six inches deep, the men 
having first turned up the ground with a hoe. Beautiful white 
herons followed the laborers, and cleared the fields of worms. The 
rice thus planted was reaped in November. 

Fields of wheat, barley (used to feed the horses), buckwheat. East 
India kale {Brassica orientalis), and mustard (the two latter for 
oil), were also seen. These crops, planted in November or Decem¬ 
ber, and ripe in May or June, were in beds about a foot broad, and 
separated from each other by a deep furrow or trench of about the 
same breadth. Sometimes they were planted across these narrow 
beds, and sometimes in two rows, lengthwise. Thunberg noticed 
that when the ear was about to put forth, the plants being grown to 
the height of a foot, the earth was taken out from the intervening 
trenches, and drawn up to the roots of the plants. About the 
same time, or a little earlier, the liquid manure collected in the 
jars already described, and mingled with all sorts of refuse, was 
carried out by the farmers, in large pails, and poured with a ladle 
on the roots of the plants; a method which avoids the waste incident 
to spreading the manure on unplantcd fields, to be dried up by the 
sun, or to lose by evaporation its volatile salts and oily particles. 

The fields were kept so free of weeds as to afford, much to Thun- 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 


405 


berg’s disappointment, very little chance to botanize. Animals 
were little used in agriculture. Only such of the rice fields 
as lay low, and quite under water, were ^ploughed by oxen —cows 
being kept for draft and breeding only, and never milked. The 
only wheel carriages seen were a few carts, and these only in and 
about Miako, some with three wheels,* one before the other two, 
and some two-wheeled. These carts were long and narrow, the 
wheels, some with spokes and fellies, but without any tire, except a 
rope tied about them, and others of a solid piece, sawed from a log. 
They were drawn by an ox, by cows, or a buffalo. Horses were 
chiefiy for the use of their princes, though occasionally employed 
by others for travelling and carrying burdens. They were not 
numerous, but Thunberg seems to make rather a close estimate in 
saying that all Japah has scarcely as many horses as a single 
province of Sweden. There was no occasion for meadows or pas¬ 
tures, the cattle and horses being fed at home all the year, so that 
all the land, not too steep or rocky for cultivation, was devoted to 
the raising of crops; nor did the fields require fences. All the 
manure of the animals kept was carefully preserved, old men and 
children following the horses of travellers, with a shell fastened to 
the end of a stick, and a basket in which to put what they collected. 
Of course the small number of domestic animals made it the more 
necessary to resort to the other means of providing manure already 
noticed. 

A few swine were to be seen, but only in the neighborhood of 
Nagasaki. There were no sheep nor goats. A supply of these 
animals, and also of cattle and hogs, for the Dutch at Desima, was 
brought annually from Batavia. Dogs, “ the only idlers in the 
country,” were kept from superstitious motives, and cats were the 
general favorites of the women. Hens and ducks were kept about 
the houses, chiefiy for their eggs, of which the Japanese make great 
use, boiled hard and chopped into small pieces. 

* Kampfer had noticed similar three-wheeled carts, made very low, and 
employed in drawing stone from a quarry. In unloading, the single wheel 
was taken off, when the cart formed an inclined plain. 





CHAPTER XL. 


JAPANESE MERCHANTS. — JOURNEY FROM MIAKO TO JEDO.—BOTANY OP THE 

MOUNTAINS. -RAINY ■WEATHER. -COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD AND FEET. 

_JEDO.-ASTRONOMERS AND PHYSICIANS.-ACUPUNCTURE. -MOXA.- 

OTHER JAPANESE REMEDIES. —METHOD OF WEARING THE HAIR VISITS TO 

THE EMPEROR AND HIS CHIEF OFFICERS.-JAPANESE DRESS. BOOKS AND 

MAPS.-SUCCESSION OF EMPERORS.-DEPARTURE FROM JEDO.-GNATS.- 

FIRE-FLIES. -THRESHING.-VEGETABLES AND FRUITS.-CONDITION OF 

THE JAPANESE FARMER. — CASTING COPPER. -ACTORS AND DANCERS.- 

THUNBERG’S OPINION OF THE JAPANESE. - A. D. 1775 — 1776. 

The travellers remained four days at Miako, during "which the 
accustomed visits were paid to the chief justice and to the two 
governors. A new advance of money was also made to them here, 
Thunberg’s share being three hundred taels, in gold kobangs, 
to be charged against the kambang money standing to his credit 
from the sale of his private goods, and to be laid out in the pur¬ 
chase of such rarities and merchandise as he chose. Here, again, 
the Dutch were waited on by the merchants, from whom they be¬ 
spoke several articles in sowas and lackered ware, to be ready 
against their return. Of these Japanese merchants, Thunberg ob¬ 
serves that they are the only persons in the country, except the 
emperor, who can become rich, and that they sometimes accumulate 
very considerable sums; but they cannot, as in Europe, purchase 
titles, or raise themselves by their money to a higher rank. The 
position of the trading and manufacturing class seems, indeed, 
almost precisely the same with that which they held in Europe dur¬ 
ing the prevalence of feudal ideas. 

Commerce, however, was free from any embarrassments by tolls 
or duties, and a considerable internal trade, of which Miako was 
the centre (several annual fares being held there), was carried on, 
in tea, silk goods, porcelain, rice, lackered ware, &c. 


thunberg’s botanical observations. 


40T 


Setting out from Miako on the fourteenth of April, the travellers, 
in passing lake Oitz^ were treated to a delicious fish, of the salmon 
kind, the largest of which seen by Thunberg weighed about ten 
pounds. Finding, in the course of their journey, that this species 
of fish was often served up, they ordered some to be smoked, against 
their return; but they did not prove equal to European salmon, 
either in size, fatness, or style of curing. The country still contin¬ 
ued as populous as before. Tn the villages were many almond, 
peach and apricot trees, which now presented a very beautiful 
appearance, blossoming on the bare branches, before the leaves 
unfolded. These, as well as the plum, cherry, apple and pear* trees, 
sometimes bore double flowers, upon which the Japanese put a high 
value. 

The road having brought them to the sea-shore, Thunberg ob¬ 
served the Fucus saccharinus^ called by the Japanese, Komb, or 
Kohu^ or sometimes Kosi. Cleansed and dried, it is eaten, though 
very tough, either boiled or raw—in the latter case, cut into strips, 
which are folded in little squares, a considerable number of which 
are usually strewed on the little tables, or salvers, on which the 
complimentary presents, so common with the Japanese, are ofiered. 
These presents, generally of trifling value, are always accompanied 
with a complimentary paper (so called), folded in a peculiar man¬ 
ner, and having slips of this fucus pasted to both ends of it. 

The mountain, Fusi, was now in sight, and presently the moun¬ 
tainous tract of Facone was entered, separating the bays of Toto- 
mina and Jedo. It took a day to cross jhese mountains, which 
were covered with bushes and forest-trees, Und were the only hills 
in Japan, except those close to Nagasaki, which Thunberg was per¬ 
mitted freely to wander over and examine. “ This day,” he says, 
“ I was seldom in my norimon; but in the same degree as I eased 
my bearers of their burden, I rendered the journey troublesome to 
the interpreters, and, more particularly, to the inferior ofiicers, who, 

* Kampfer says that the European apple-tree is unknown in Japan, and 
that they have only one kind of pears, such as we call winter pears. The 
fruit grows to a great size, but must be cooked to be eaten. Cherry-trees 
are cultivated only for the flowers, as apricots and plums often are, the blos¬ 
soms being brought by art to be as big as roses. Golownin, however, ate 
apples in northern Japan, though of an inferior quality. 



408 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


by rotation, were to follow my steps. I was not allowed, indeed, 
to go far out of the road, but having been previously used to run 
up rocks in the African mountains, I frequently got to a consider¬ 
able distance before my anxious and panting followers, and thereby 
gained time to gather a great many of the most curious and scarcest 
plants, which had just began to flower, and which I put in my 
handkerchief.” 

Among the trees growing in this tract was the Thuya dolehrata^ 
planted everywhere by the road-side, tall, straight, and with leaves 
of silver-white on their under sides—in Thunberg’s opinion the hand¬ 
somest of the flr tribe. There were no less than six peculiar species 
of maple, all of great beauty. Cedars {Cupressus japonica), a 
common tree throughout the country, grew here in great perfection. 
The straightest and tallest of the flrs, their trunks ran up straight as 
a candle, and, being both light and very durable, the timber was 
employed for all sorts of constructions, and also for cabinet work, 
the veins showing to advantage when covered with varnish. The 
wood of this tree, next to the Pinus sUvestris, is that most employed 
by carpenters, &c. He also observed several species of oaks,* the 
common barberry, in full blossom, several species of the Vacciniay 
or whortleberry, a wild pear-tree, a shrub with leaves so rough 
that they are used for polishing by the joiners, the Oryris japonica, 
bearing its flowers at the middle of its leaves; also, several beau¬ 
tiful flowering shrubs, Viburjia, with double as well as single flowers, 
two species of Spirea, the Citrus tripoliata^ and the Gardenia 
Floi'ida, of which the seed-vessels afforded a yellow dye. The 
dragon lily {Arum dracontium), and the edible species of the 
same plant {Arum esculentu7n), the eddo, or tania, of the West 
Indies, and taro of the Sandwich Islands {Caladium in more 
recent classifications), were cultivated in some spots. 

By night the sea-shore was again reached, at Odowara^ whence 
two days’ journey took them to Jedo, where they arrived, on ac¬ 
count of the delay in the sea voyage, at a period unusually late, 
but which Thunberg notes as an advantage, since it gave him, both 
going and returning, a better opportunity to observe the vegetation 

* Kampfer says there are two species peculiar to Japan, the acorns of 
which are boiled and eaten. 




THUNBERG AT JEDO. 


409 


of the country. During the journey there had been rain sometimes, 
but not too often, and the cold had been such as occasionally to 
make fires very comfortable. The Japanese, he observed, bore the 
cold better than the rain, which did not altogether agree with their 
bare feet and heads. For the feet they used only slippers of rice 
straw,* left at the door whenever they entered a house, consisting of 
a sole, without upper leather or hind-piece (kept on by a thong, or 
strap, held fast between the toes), and soon soaked and spoiled by the 
rain, on which occasion, indeed, high wooden clogs were sometimes 
substituted. Ordinarily, even while travelling, no covering for the 
head was worn, but in hard rains they used an umbrella, a hat of 
plaited grass, and a cloak of oil-paper, for which the poorer class 
substituted a piece of straw matting, thrown over their backs. 

The weather, during a stay of twenty-six days at Jedo, from 
April 28th to May 25th, was often damp, almost every day cloudy, 
with sometimes drizzling, and sometimes heavy, rain. Several 
slight shocks of earthquake were felt. Several fires occurred, which 
were soon extinguished. A great fire, during the Dutch visit of 
1772, had burned from noon till eight at night, spreading over a vast 
space, and making it necessary to remove the Dutch three times; 

Down to the day of audience, which did not take place till the 
18th of May, the Dutch were not suffered to go out. Numbers of 
persons obtained, however, permission to visit them. The first who 
called were five physicians and two astronomers, prompted espe¬ 
cially by Thunberg’s scientific reputation, which the interpreters 
had noised abroad, and who were very inquisitive on various points 
of science. The questions of the astronomers related principally 
to eclipses, which it appeared they could not calculate to minutes, 
and frequently not even to hours; but besides the difficulty of car¬ 
rying on this conversation through interpreters, another arose, from 
the fact that Thunberg’s astronomy had grown a little rusty, and 
that neither he nor the Japanese had any books to which they could 
refer. 

In matters of medicine, he felt more at home, especially as two 

* Later accounts represent cloth or cotton stockings, or socks, as fre¬ 
quently worn in cold weather, resembling mittens, in having a separate ac¬ 
commodation for the great toe, so as to permit the introduction between that 
and the others of the shoe-holding strap. 

35 




410 


JAPAN. — A. I). 1775—1776. 


of the Japanese doctors could speak Dutch — one of them tolerably 
well. They also had some knowledge of natural history, collected 
partly from Chinese and Dutch books, and partly from the Dutch 
physicians who had visited Jedo, but who frequently had not been 
very well able to instruct them, as they were often, to use Thun- 
berg’s expression, “ little better than horsc-doctors. One of the 
two Japanese, quite a young man, was the emperor’s body-physi¬ 
cian ; the other, somewhat older and better informed, was physician 
to one of the chief princes. Both were good-natured, acute and lively. 
They attached themselves to Thunberg with great zeal, coming to 
see him every day, and often staying late at night. Though weari¬ 
some with their questions, yet so insinuating were they in their man¬ 
ners and anxious to learn, that our traveller found much pleasure 
in their society. They had a number of Dutch works on botany, 
medicine and surgery, and Thunberg sold them some others. They 
were particularly struck with the fine set of surgical instruments 
which he had brought from Amsterdam and Paris. These medical 
friends were of great use to him in his studies in natural history. 
Among the botanical specimens which they brought him were the 
pine of Europe {Pinus abies), of which, as well as of the Pinus 
silvestris, he had seen several on his journey to court, the chestnut, 
which he saw afterwards at Miako, on his return, and the walnut 
{Jugulans nigra). They also brought him a variety of ores and 
minerals, and specimens of fishes and insects. 

The Japanese, he found, knew nothing of anatomy or physiology. 
They were ignorant of the circulation of the blood, feeling the 
pulse for a quarter of an hour, first in one arm and then in the 
other, not knowing that both beat alike. Bleeding they very sel¬ 
dom practised ; of the use of mercury they knew nothing; and, 
notwithstanding what Thunberg relates of the cures effected under 
his direction, by the use of corrosive sublimate, it may be doubted 
how much benefit he conferred by the introduction of that remedy, 
or by the present which he made to his “ beloved pupils ” of “ his 
silver-spring lancet,” with instructions how to use it. 

The two great remedies of the Japanese are acupuncture and 
burning with the moxa, the former chiefiy practised in a violent 
colic endemic to the country. According to the Japanese theory, 
it is caused by wind, and to let out this wind several small holes 




THUNBERQ AT JEDO. 


411 


— nine being a favorite number — are made with needles, prepared 
for the purpose, generally in the muscles of the stomach or abdo¬ 
men, though other fleshy parts of the body are, in some cases, 
chosen for the operation. These needles are nearly as fine as a 
hair, made of gold and silver generally, but sometimes of steel, by 
persons who profess a particular skill in tempering them. The 
bony parts, nerves and blood-vessels, are carefully avoided, and 
while they are passed through the skin and muscle, they are 
twirled about in a peculiar manner. There are many practitioners 
who confine themselves to this practice alone.* 

A still more favorite and universal remedy, employed quite as 
much for prevention as cure, is burning with the moxa — the finer 
woolly part of the young leaves of the wormwood {Artemesia)^ of 
which the coarser kind is used for ordinary tinder. It is procured 
by rubbing and beating the leaves till the green part separates and 
nothing remains but the wool, which is sorted into two kinds. When 
applied, it is made up in little cones, which, being placed on the 
part selected for the operation, are set fire to from the top. They 
burn very slowly leaving a scar or blister on the skin, which, some 
time after, breaks and discharges. The operation is not very pain¬ 
ful, except when repeated in the same place, as it sometimes is, or 
when applied to certain tender parts. It is thought very efficacious 
in pleurisies, tooth-ache, gout and rheumatism — disorders which, 
like the colic above-mentioned, are rapid in their operation, and of 
which the paroxysms tend to a speedy termination under any medi¬ 
cal treatment or none at all. The Japanese have very elaborate 
treatises as to the effects produced by the moxa, according to the 
part to which it is applied, and its application forms a science and 
profession by itself. The fleshy parts, especially of the back, are 
ordinarily selected. It is used still more by way of prevention than 
for cure, every person, young and old, male and female, even pris¬ 
oners in the jails, submitting to the operation, at least once in six 


* There have not been wanting attempts to introduce acupuncture into 
European practice. See a sensible article on this subject by Remusat (JVov. 
Melanges ^siat, vol. i.), in which he gives an analysis of a Japanese treat¬ 
ise on acupuncture, which, with a translation of it, was brought home by Tit- 
singh. 



412 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—177C. 


months.* Another remedy is friction, applied by certain profes¬ 
sors, and which proves of great use in pains of the limbs, arising 
from the prevuilijig vicissitudes of the weather. Internal remedies 
are generally exhibited in the form of simple decoctions, diuretic or 
sudorific. Wonderful virtues are ascribed to certain dmgs; and, 
on the whole, the Japanese appear, as in the use of unicorn’s horn 
and ginseng, to have been not less deluded by quack medicines and 
medical theories than more enlightened nations.! 

The doctors, like the priests, are distinguished from other people 
by the fashion of wearing their hair. Thunberg states in one place 
that they shaved the whole head; in another, that they had 
the option of retaining all their hair, like the boys and women. 
According to Titsingh, physicians shave the head, and surgeons 
wear the hair. Of surgery, however, they know next to nothing. 

All the male Japanese who are neither priests nor physicians, 
from the time the beard begins to grow, shave the head from the 
forehead to the nape of the neck. The little hair left about the 
neck and on the temples is well oiled, turned up in a cue, and tied 
with several rounds of white string made of paper. The hair above 
the tie is cut off, leaving about the length of a finger, which, being 
stiffened with a sort of pomatum, is so bent that the tip of it is 
made to stand against the crown of the head. This arrangement is 
strictly attended to, the head being shaved every day, that the 
stumps of the growing hair may not disfigure it. 

Women who have parted with their husbands also shave their 
heads — at least Thunberg met with one such instance; but, in 
general, the women retain all their hair, which they make smooth 
with oil and mucilaginous substances, and either put close to the 
head all round, or else (in the case of single women and serving- 

* Kampfer treats at length on the acupuncture and moxa, and gives in 
his appendix a translation of a Japanese treatise on the parts to be selected 
to be burnt, according to the object to be accomplished. 

t Of the Dosiu powder, to which the Japanese ascribe singular effects, 
M. Titsingh has given a curious account. Illustrations, p. 283. It was the 
invention of Kobou, a great saint and sage, who, by profound meditation 
on the writings both of his own sect and others, had discovered that the great 
scourges of mankind are four ; namely, Sigokf, hell ; Goki, woman ; Tiiku~ 
sio, the man with a perverse heart; and Sioura, war. 




IMPERIAL AUDIENCE. 


413 


maids) make it stand in puffs on each side of the face. The ends 
are fastened together in a knob at the crown of the head, just before 
which is stuck a large comb, made, in the case of the poorer people, 
of lackered boxwood, and among the richer of tortoise-shell. The 
rich wear also several long ornaments of tortoise-shell, stuck 
through this knob, which, with a few flowers, constitute the whole of 
their head decorations. “Vanity,” says Thunberg, “has not yet 
taken root among them to that degree as to induce them to wear 
rings or other ornaments in their ears. No caps, hats or bonnets 
are worn, except a conical cap, made of reeds, when travelling. 
Otherwise the parasol, or fan, is all the shelter they use against the 
sun or the rain.” 

The ofiicial visits are thus described by Thunberg : “ We were 

dressed in the European fashion, but in costly silks, interwoven 
with silver and laced with gold. On account of the festivity of the 
day it was requisite for us to wear our swords and a very large 
black silk cloak. We were carried a considerable distance through 
the town before we arrived at the emperor’s residence. This is 
surrounded by fosses and stone walls, and separated by draw¬ 
bridges. It forms a considerable town of itself, and is said to be 
five leagues in circumference, comprising the emperor’s private 
palace, as also that of the hereditary prince, each separated from 
the other by wide fosses, stone walls, gates and other bulwarks. In 
the outermost citadel, which was the largest of all, were large and 
handsome covered streets and great houses, which belonged to the 
princes of the country, the privy councillors, and other officers of 
state. Their numerous families, who ’ were obliged likewise to 
remain at the court the whole year throughout, were also lodged 
here. At the first gate there was a strong guard. That at the 
second gate was said to consist of a thousand men.* As soon as 

* From Thunberg’s account of the arms of the Japanese, they cannot be 
regarded as very formidable soldiers. He mentions bows and arrows, scym- 
etars, halberts and gulls. Their bows are very large and their arrows long, 
like those of the Chinese. The bowman, in order to shoot, places himself on 
one knee, a position which renders it impossible to discharge his arrows with 
any great rapidity. Guns were not ordinarily employed. Thunberg saw 
them, apparently matchlocks, only as articles of show in the houses of the 
imperial officers, displayed upon a stand in the audience chamber. The few 

35 * 




414 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


we had passed through this gate, having previously quitted our 
norinions, we were conducted to an apartment, where we waited a 
full hour. At last, having obtained leave to approach the imperial 
palace, we passed through a long lane of soldiers, who were posted 
on both sides quite up to the door of the palace, all armed and well 
clothed. 

“ The emperor’s private palace was situated on an eminence, and 
although it consisted of one story only, still it was much higher 
than any other house, and covered a large tract of ground. We 
were immediately conducted into an antechamber, where we again 
waited at least an hour. Our ofiGicers sat down in the Japanese 
manner on one side, and the Dutchmen, together with the interpre¬ 
ters, on the other. It proved extremely fatiguing to us to sit in 
their manner; and, as we could not hold it out long thus, we put our 
legs out on one side and covered them with our long cloaks, which 
in this respect were of great service to us. 

“ The time we waited here did not appear long, as great num¬ 
bers of people passed in and out, both in order to look at us and 
talk with us. We were visited by several princes of the country, 
but constantly incognito, though we could always perceive when 
they were coming, from the murmuring noise which was at first 
heard from the inner rooms, and the silence that ensued upon it. 

cannon at Nagasaki, wliich once belonged to the Portuguese, were discharged 
only once in seven years, the Japanese knowing little or not at all the proper 
management of them, and fixing the match to a long pole, so as to touch 
them off at a safe distance. Their longer swords are broad-backed, a little 
curved, a yard long, and of excellent temper ; the hilts somewhat roundish 
and flat, furnished with a I’ound substantial guard without any bow. The 
scabbai'd is thick and rather fiat, made of wood, and sometimes covered with 
shagreen and lackered. The shorter sword is straight. These swords are 
costly and rated at a high value. 

From a Japanese work, Siebold states their method of making sword-blades : 
“ The blades, forged out of good bar-steel, are plastered over with a paste of 
potash, porcelain clay and powdered charcoal, and dried in the sun. They 
are next exposed to the fire and heated till the ma» assumes a white hue. 
The glowing blades are then plunged into luke-warm water, three fifths boil¬ 
ing to two fifths cold, and cooled gradually. Often the edge only is heated, 
and then the cooling is with cold water. The reforging of old blades is not 
uncommon.” Of the two swords worn by the Japanese, one is long and 
slightly curved, the other short and straight. 





VISITS TO THE HIGH OFFICERS. 


415 


Their curiosity was carried to a great length in everything; but the 
chief employment they found for us, was to let them see our mode 
of writing. We were thus induced to write something either on 
paper or on their fans. Some of them showed us fans on which the 
Dutch had formerly written, and which they had carefiilly treasured 
up as great rarities. 

“ At last the instant arrived when the ambassador was to have 
audience, at which the ceremony was totally different from that 
which was used in Kiimpfer’s time, we remaining in the apartment 
into which we had been ushered. 

“ After the return of the ambassador we were again obliged to 
stay a long while in the antechamber, in order to receive the visits 
and answer the questions of several of the courtiers, several times 
during whose entrance a deep silence prevailed. Among these, it 
was said, his imperial majesty had likewise come incognito^ in order 
to have a nearer view of the Dutch and their dress.* The inter¬ 
preters and ofiScers had spared no pains to find out, through the 
medium of their friends, everything that could tend to our informa¬ 
tion in this respect. The emperor was of a middle size, hale con¬ 
stitution, and about forty and odd years of age. 

“ At length, after all the visits were ended, we obtained leave to 
see several rooms in the palace, and also that in which the ambassa¬ 
dor had had audience, and which has already been described. 

“ The ambassador was conducted by the outside of the anteroom 
and along a boarded passage to the audience room, which opened 
by a sliding-door. The inner room consisted, in a manner, of 
three rooms, one a step higher than the other, and, according to the 
measure I took of them by my eye, when afterwards permitted to 
view them, of about ten paces each in length, so that the distance 
between the emperor and the ambassador might be about thirty 
paces. The emperor, as I was informed, stood during the audience, 
in the most interior part of the room, as did the hereditary prince 
likewise, at his right hand. To the right of this room was a large 
saloon, the floor of which was covered by a hundred mats, and 
hence called the hundred-mat saloon. It is six hundred feet long 

* This appears to have been the substitute for those private interviews, in 
which the doctor and secretary were expected to show off for the entertain¬ 
ment of the Dutch, and of which Kampfer has given so curious an account. 



416 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


and three hundred broad,* and is occupied by the most dignified 
men of the empire, privy councillors and princes, who all, on similar 
occasions, take their seats according to their different ranks and 
dignity. To the left, in the audience room, lay the presents, sent 
beforehand, and piled up in heaps. The whole of the audience con¬ 
sists merely in this, that, as soon as the ambassador enters the 
room, he fiills on his hands, lays his hand on the mat, and bows his 
head down to it, in the same manner as the Japanese themselves 
are used to testify their subjection and respect. After this the 
ambassador rises, and is conducted back to the anteroom the same 
way that he came. 

“ The rest of the rooms which we viewed had no furniture in 
them. The floors were covered with large and very white straw 
mats; the cornices and doors were handsomely lackered, and the 
locks, hinges, &c., well gilt. 

“ After having thus looked about us, we were conducted to the 
hereditary prince’s palace, which stood close by, and was separated 
only by a bridge. Here we were received and complimented in the 
name of the hereditary prince, who was not at home ; after which 
we were conducted back to our norimons. 

“ Although the day was already far advanced, and we had had 
sufficient time to digest our early breakfast, we were nevertheless 
obliged to pay visits to all the privy councillors, as well to the six 
ordinary as to the six extraordinary, at each of their respective 
houses. And as these gentlemen were not yet returned from court, 
we were received in the most polite manner by their deputies, and 
exhibited to the view of their ladies and children. Each visit lasted 
half an hour; and we were for the most part so placed in a large 
room that we could be viewed on all sides through thin curtains, 
without having the good fortune to get a sight of these court beau¬ 
ties, excepting at one place, where they made so free as, not only 
to take away the curtain, but also desired us to advance nearer. 
In general we were received by two gentlemen in office, and at 
every place treated with green tea, the apparatus for smoking, and 
pastry, which was set before each of us, separately, on small 

* It would take a thousand of the ordinary Japanese mats to cover such a 
floor ; but Thunberg says the mats upon it were of an extra size. 



VISITS TO THE HIGH OFFICERS. 


41T 


tables. We drank sometimes a cup of the boiled tea, but did not 
touch the tobacco, and the pastry was taken home through the pru¬ 
dent care of our interpreters. 

“ I shall never forget the delightful prospect we had during these 
visits, from an eminence that commanded a view of the whole of 
this large and extensive town, which the Japanese affirm to be 
twenty-one leagues, or as many hours’ walk, in circumference. 
The evening drew nigh by the time that we returned, weary and 
worn out, to our inn. 

“ On the following day (May 19th) we paid our respects to the 
temple lords, as they are called, the two governors of the town, 
and the two commissaries of strangers. A few days elapsed after 
this before we received our audience of leave. This was given, in a 
very summary manner, on the 23d following, and only before the 
lords in council appointed for this purpose. The intervening days 
were employed in receiving presents and preparing for our depart¬ 
ure. At the audience of leave, the gowns or Japanese dresses, 
intended as presents for the Dutch East India Company, were 
delivered. The presents destined for us were carried to our inns. 
Every ordinary privy councillor gives, the day after the audience 
of leave, ten gowns ; every extraordinary privy councillor, six; every 
temple lord, five; and every commissary, and the governor of Na¬ 
gasaki, two. Of these our banjos [the officers called by Kiimpfer 
bugio and deputy-bugio — the conductors of the journey] received 
two; the secretary and myself two apiece; and the ambassador 
four. The rest are packed up for the company’s account.” * 

Of these gowns, the universal, and almost only article of Japan¬ 
ese dress, Thunberg, in another place, gives the following account. 

They are long and wide, and worn, one or more of them, by 
people of every age and condition in life. The rich have them of 
the finest silk, and the poor of cotton. The women wear them 
reaching down to their feet, and the women of quality frequently 
with a train. Those of the men come down to their heels; but 
travellers, together with soldiers and laboring people, either tuck 
them up or wear them so short that they only reach to their knees. 

* This was a different arrangement from that which prevailed in Kamp 
fer’s time, when the ambassador had the whole, except those presented by 
the emperor himself. 



418 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


The men generally have them made of plain silk of one color ; but 
the silken stuffs worn by the women are flowered, sometimes in 
gold. In the summer they are either without any lining at all, or 
else with a thin lining only. In winter, by way of defence against 
the cold weather, they are quilted with cotton or silk wad. The 
men seldom wear many of them, but the women often from thirty to 
fifty, or more, and all so thin, that together they hardly weigh 
more than four or five pounds. The undermost serves for a shirt, 
and is therefore either white or bluish, and, for the most part, thin 
and transparent. All these gowns are fastened about the waist by 
a belt, which for the men is about the breadth of a hand, and for 
the women of twelve inches, and of such length as to go twice 
round the body, with a large knot and rose. The knot worn by the 
fair sex, which is larger than that worn by the men, shows imme¬ 
diately whether the woman is married or not; as the married 
women wear the knot before, and the single behind. The men fasten 
to this belt their sabres,* fan, tobacco-pipe and pouch. The gowns 
are rounded off about the neck, without a cape, open before, and 
show the bare bosom, which is never covered, either with a hand¬ 
kerchief or anything else. The sleeves are ill-shaped, wide and 
long, the openings partly sewed up, so as to form a bag, into which 
they put their hands in cold weather, or use it as a pocket to hold 
their papers and other things.! Young girls, in particular, have the 
sleeves of their gowns so long as frequently to reach quite down to 
the ground. On account of the width of their garments, they are 
soon dressed and undressed, as they have nothing more to do than to 
untie their girdle and draw in their arms, when the whole of their 
dress instantly falls off of itself. The gowns serve also for bedclothes. 
The common people, when at work, are frequently seen naked, 
with only a girdle about them, or with their gowns taken off the 
upper part of their bodies, and hanging down loose from their gir- 

* The two swords, the badge of nobility, are worn stuck into the belt, on 
the left side, with no belt of their own, a little crosswise and with the edge 
upwards. When a person is seated the longer sword is taken from the belt 
and laid on the gi’ound by him. 

t The bosom of the gown is also used for the same purpose. For pocket- 
handkerchiefs, the Japanese carry about them a supply of small, square 
bits of soft paper, which they throw away as they use them. 




WORKS ON NATURAL HISTORY. 


419 


dies. IMen of a higher rank wear over the long gowns a shorter 
one, made of some thin stuflf, such as gauze. As to the neck and 
sleeves of it, they are like those of the other, but it reaches only to 
the waist, and is not fastened with a girdle, but tied before and at 
the top with a string. This half-gown is sometimes of a yellow, but 
most frequently of a black color, and is laid aside at home, or in 
any place where no superior is present.” 

As the Japanese ordinarily wear no covering for the legs, feet or 
head, the above described gowns constitute their entire dress, except 
upon occasions of ceremony, when a complimentary dress, or honor- 
gown, kainisamo, as they call it, is added to it. This compliment¬ 
ary dress consists of a frock, generally of a blue stuff, with white 
flowers about half the length of the gown, and made much in the 
same way, but carried on each side back over the shoulders, so as 
to give a very broad-shouldered appearance to the wearer. To 
this, with persons of a certain rank, is added, as part of the dress 
of ceremony, a garment half breeches, half petticoat, as if it were a 
petticoat sewed up between the legs, but left open at the sides for 
two thirds their length, fastened about the waist by a band, and 
reaching to the ankles. 

Before leaving Jedo, Thunberg purchased a number of botanical 
books, containing very indifferent figures of plants, as did another 
botanical work, in twenty thin octavo volumes, presented to him by 
one of his medical pupils. But a large printed* quarto, which he 
purchased, containfed figures of Japanese fishes, engraved and col¬ 
ored in such superior style,.as to be able to compete with similar 
European works. He also procured, though the selling such things 
to strangers was strictly prohibited, a map of Japan, with plans of 
Jedo, Miako and Nagasaki, exactly like those brought away by 
Kiimpfer, and engraved in his work. Just before his departure, at 
the request of his two pupils in medicine, he gave them a certificate 
in Dutch, of their proficiency, with which they were as highly de¬ 
lighted as ever a young doctor was with his diploma. A warm 
friendship had sprang up between him and them, and, even after 
Thunberg’s return to Europe, a correspondence was kept up and 

* The Japanese print entirely from stereotype plates. They do not em¬ 
ploy movable types, and they print on one side of the paper only. 



420 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1775—1776. 


presents exchanged for some years, down at least to the publication 
of his travels. 

According to Thunberg, the personages composing the imperial 
court were in his time so little known that very few people in the 
whole empire were acquainted with their names. M. Feith, the 
director whom he accompanied to Jedo, and who had been on the 
same embassy four times before, and had lived in Japan fourteen 
years, was obliged to confess at table, after their return to Batavia, 
being inquired of as to the name of the reigning emperor, that he 
did not know it, and never had heard it.* It was only through the 
friendship of his medical pupils at Jedo, and of the chief interpre¬ 
ter, that he obtained a knowledge of it, and also a list of the empe¬ 
rors since Kiimpfer’s time, which he gives as follows : 

Chin na yos (reigning when Kampfer left Japan, and for twelve 
or thirteen years previously.) 

1709, Ye Nob koo. 

1713, Ye Tsu ku koo. 

1717, Yosi Mune koo. 

1752, Ye Siege koo. 

1762, Ye Fuk KOO,t who continued to reign at the time of 
Thunberg’s departure, being the forty-first in succession from Jori- 
tomo, and ninth from Jesi Jas, otherwise Daisu-Sama and Ogoshu- 
Sama, or, as he was called after his death, Gongin-Sama, by whom 
the reigning dynasty had been established. 

Thunberg left Jedo on his return the 25th of May. The weather 
being rainy they were a good deal molested by gnats, against which 
they had to protect themselves by gauze curtains. The Japanese 

* The emperors are seldom or never spoken of, in the Jesuit letters and other 
contemporary memorials, by their personal or family names, but only by 
some title, as Kubo-Sama ; Kambucundono, or, as Klaproth would write it, 
Kwanbaku-dono — the Kwanbak (or bonnet-keeper) being a high dignitai-y 
in the court of the Dairi, regent in case of a minority or a female Dairi; — 
Taiko-Sama, mighty lord ; Xogun-Sama, which is only, as has been already 
noted, Siogun-Sama, &c. &c. 

t The above names are written by Titsingh, as corrected by Klaproth, 
thus : Tsuna yosi, Ye-Nobu, Yei tsubo, Yosi-Mune, Ye-Sige (whose ac¬ 
cession he places in 1745), Ye-Faru (succeeds in 1760). He gives as suc¬ 
cessor in 1786, Yeye-Nari. Koo (which Titsingh writes kio) he represents 
as a title merely. 



FARMING. 


421 


fire-flies, so much more brilliant and active than the European 
glow-worm, were noticed with admiration. 

At this season the first gathering was made of the tea-lea,ves, yet 
quite young and yielding the finer kinds of tea. He observed in some 
places the leaves carelessly spread before the houses on mats to dry. 
He also observed the farmers, in several places, threshing barley, 
wheat and mustard seed, on similar mats, with flails having three 
swingels, or sometimes by beating the ears against a tub. To sepa¬ 
rate the exterior husk from the rice, it was pounded by hand in a 
kind of mortar, or by means of a machine consisting of a number 
of pestles set in motion by a water-wheel, or by a man’s foot. After 
the wheat and barley were gathered, French beans [Phaseoli) were 
sown for a second crop. He observed many kinds of peas and 
beans cultivated, especially the DoUchos soia, not only used for 
making soy, but the chief ingredients of a soup, a daily dish with 
most classes. The Dolichos polystachos, which ran winding like 
scarlet beans, was employed for arbors. Its flowers, hanging down 
from long stalks, were very ornamental, and appeared in succession 
for a long period. He mentions, also, lettuce, melons both with 
red and white pulp, pumpkins, cucumbers, eaten both raw and 
pickled, gourds, employed for flasks, mushrooms, very much used, 
especially for soups and sauces, Seville and China oranges, lemons, 
shaddocks, medlars {Mespillus japonica), a large sort of persimmon 
(Dyosperos kaki), grapes, pomegranates, Spanish figs {CactusJicus), 
chestnuts and walnuts.* The condition of the Japanese farmer Thun- 
berg contrasts very favorably with that of the Swedish agricultural¬ 
ist, overloaded as the latter was with feudal burdens, though doubt¬ 
less he knew better these burdens, which he indignantly enumer¬ 
ates, than he did the grievances of the Japanese cultivator. 

At Osaka he saw the smelting of copper from the ores obtained 
in that neighborhood, and the method of casting it into bars. A 
mould was made for this purpose, by digging a hole in the ground 
a foot deep, across which were laid ten square iron bars, barely a 
finger’s breadth apart. A strip of sail-cloth was spread over these 
bars and forced down. The hole was then filled with water, and 

* Kampfer represents the Japanese strawberry as entirely insipid, and the 
raspberries and brambleberries as not agreeable ; and Golownin, from his 
own experience, agrees with him in this statement. 

36 




422 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1775—1776. 


the melted metal, smelted from the ore, was dipped up in iron ladles 
and poured into this mould, thus forming each time ten or eleven 
thin plates. To this method of casting he ascribes its high color. 

Thunberg had an opportunity of seeing Japanese plays, both at 
Osaka, on his return from Miako, and at Nagasaki, during the an¬ 
nual Matsuri in honor of Siwa, which he attended. “ The specta¬ 
tors,” he says, “ sit in houses of diifferent dimensions, on benches. 
Facing them, upon an elevated but small and narrow place, stands 
the theatre itself, upon which seldom more than one or two actors 
perform at a time. These are always dressed in a very singular man¬ 
ner, according as their own taste and fancy suggest, insomuch that 
a stranger would be apt to believe that they exhibited themselves 
not to entertain, but to frighten, the audience. Their gestures as 
well as their dress are strangely uncouth and extravagant, and 
consist in artificial contortions of the body, which it must have cost 
them much trouble to learn and perform. In general they repre¬ 
sent some heroic exploit, or love story, of their idols and heroes, 
which are frequently composed in verse, and are sometimes accom¬ 
panied with music. A curtain may, it is true, be let fall between 
the actors and the spectators, and some necessary pieces be brought 
forward upon the theatre ; but in other respects these small theatres 
have no machinery nor decorations which can entitle them to be put 
in comparison with those of Europe. 

“ When the Japanese wish at any time to entertain the Dutch, 
either in the town of Nagasaki, or more particularly during their 
journey to the imperial court, they generally provide a band of 
female dancers, for the amusement of their guests. These are gen¬ 
erally young damsels, very superbly dressed, whom they fetch from 
the inns; sometimes young boys likewise are mixed among them. 
Such a dance requires always a number of persons, who turn and 
twine, and put themselves into a variety of artificial postures, in 
order to represent an amorous or heroic deed, without either speak¬ 
ing or singing. Their steps are, however, regulated by the music 
which plays to them. These girls are provided with a number of 
very fine and light gowns, made of silk, which they slip off one 
after another, during the dance, from the upper part of their body, 
so as frequently to leave them, to the number of a dozen together, 
suspended from the girdle which encircles their loins.” 



thunberg’s character oe the people. 


423 


Though the view taken by Thunberg of the Japanese presents 
them perhaps not quite so high in the scale of civilization as Kiimp- 
fer’s, yet he is scarcely less their admirer, coinciding, indeed, in this 
respect, with most of the Europeans who have left any memorials 
of their observations in Japan. He notes especially their courtesy, 
friendly disposition, ingenuity, love of knowledge, justice, honesty, 
frugality, cleanliness and self-respect; and he emphatically repu¬ 
diates the conclusion that, because the laws are severe and strictly 
executed, the people are therefore to be regarded as slaves. These 
laws are for the public good, and their severity ensures their observ¬ 
ance. “The Japanese,” he tells us, “hate and detest the inhuman 
traffic in slaves, carried on by the Dutch, and the cruelty with which 
these poor creatures are treated.” 

In common with Kampfer he admires and extols the immutability 
of the Japanese laws and customs; but this seems hardly so legiti¬ 
mate a subject of eulogy as the peace in which the empire is kept, 
the plenty which is said to prevail,* and its freedom as well from 
internal feuds, political or religious, as from foreign encroachments. 

Thunberg’s Flora Japonica describes about a thousand species, 
of which upwards of three hundred were new. In the preface 
to it, he speaks of the Japanese Islands as chiefly hills and 
valleys, with high mountains. Plains and meadows are rare. The 
soil is now clayey and now sandy. The summer heat is great, espe¬ 
cially in July and August, sometimes one hundred degrees of Fahren- 
^ heit, and scarcely tolerable but for the breeze. In winter the ther¬ 
mometer, even in the most southern parts, falls many degrees below 
the freezing-point, especially with the wind from the north and west, 
with ice and snow, which on the highest mountains remains all the 
year round. The changes in the weather are great and sudden; 
violent storms with thunder and lightning are common. The rains 
are abundant throughout the year, and especially so in spring and 
summer, whence in part the fertility of Japan, mainly due, however, 
to careful cultivation. 

* This plenty is in strong contrast with the famine, scarcity and distress, 
frequently noted by the Jesuit missionaries, as prevailing during the civil 
wars of their time ; yet, even at present, occasional seasons of scarcity seem, 
to occur. 




CHAPTER XLI. 


ISAAC TITSINGH. — HIS RESIDENCE IN JAPAN. — TRANSLATIONS FROM THE 

JAPANESE.-ANNALS OF THE DAIRI.-MEMOIRS OF THE SIOGUN.-LIBERAL 

IDEAS IN JAPAN.-MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. -FUNERAL CEREMONIES.- 

MOURNING. — FEAST OP LANTERNS.—^A. D. 1779-1791. 

Soon after Thunberg’s departure, he had a worthy successor, in 
the person of Mr. Isaac Titsingh, the first director at Desima since 
the time of Caron to whom we are indebted for any information 
about Japan. Born about 1640, Titsingh had entered early into 
the service of the Dutch East India Company. After seven years’ 
residence at Batavia, he was sent to Desima, as director, where he 
arrived August 15th, 1779, and remained till November 29th, 1780, 
when he returned to Batavia. He came back again to Japan 
August 12th, 1781, and remained till November 6th, 1783, the 
war between Holland and England, growing out of the American 
revolution, having prevented the arrival of any ships from Ba¬ 
tavia during the year 1782 — an event of which Titsingh took 
advantage to stipulate for a considerable advance in the price of 
Dutch imports, for a term of fifteen years. He reached Nagasaki 
a third time, August 18th, 1784, but left again November 26th of 
the same year. During his first and second visits he made the 
journey to Jedo as Dutch ambassador, where he succeeded in mak¬ 
ing several friends, particularly Kutsuka Samon, prince of Tamba, 
who had learned Dutch, which he wrote tolerably well, with whom, 
and other Japanese friends, Titsingh kept up a correspondence for 
some time after leaving the country. 

During his residence in Japan he made a valuable collection of 
Japanese curiosities, including many Japanese books, and he also 
brought home with him translations of some of these books, made 
by aid of Japanese interpreters attached to the factory at Desima, 
whose interpretations, given viva voce^ he wrote out in Dutch ; for 


ISAAC TITSINGH. 


425 


though Titsingh knew enough of Japanese for the purposes of con¬ 
versation, he does not seem to have acquired the written language, 
nor to have been able to read Chinese, of which the characters are 
largely, and, indeed, chiefly, employed in most Japanese works of 
much pretensions. “ I found,” he says, “ among the interpreters 
belonging to our factory, four individuals sufficiently well-informed 
for my purpose; a fifth had devoted himself chiefly to medicine, in 
which he had made rapid progress, in consequence of the instruc¬ 
tion given to him by Dr. Thunberg. Far from finding them suspi¬ 
cious and reluctant, as Europeans are usually pleased to represent 
these persons, in order to palliate their own indolence, they mani¬ 
fested, on the contrary, an eagerness to procure for me every prac¬ 
ticable information, to consult, in various matters beyond their 
capacity, the best informed individuals among the magistrates and 
clergy, and to furnish me with books which might serve as a guide 
to my labors.” 

After leaving Japan, Titsingh was governor at the Dutch factory 
at Chinsurah, in Bengal, where he became acquainted with Sir 
William Jones. In 1794 he was sent, with Van Braam, on a Dutch 
embassy to Pekin, with the design to counterwork the English em¬ 
bassy of Lord Macartney ; but this residence in China was limited 
to a few months. 

Beturning to Europe, after a residency in the East of thirty- 
three years, Titsingh designed to publish the result of his Japanese 
researches, in both Dutch and French; but, before having done it, 
he died at Paris, in 1812, leaving his large fortune and his collec¬ 
tions and manuscripts to an only child of his, by an Eastern woman, 
by whom the fortune was soon spent, and the manuscripts and curi¬ 
osities sold and scattered, though some of them ultimately fell into 
appreciating hands.* 

* See a notice of Titsingh’s collection, by Remusat, in JSTouveau Melanges 
Jlsiatique, vol. i. It included, besides the works since published, a manu¬ 
script history of Japan, in eighty volumes (Japanese volumes are quite 
thin), also^ a Chinese Japanese encyclopaedia, several copies of a large map of 
Japan, colored drawings of plants, several botanical treatises, with wood cuts, 
very well done, &c., &c. The encyclopaedia was presented to the Bibloiheque 
au Roy, and Remusat has given a full analysis of it in JVbiices et Extracts 
des Manuscripts, vol. xi. 

36* 



426 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


Among his translations, the one to which Titsingh ascribed the 
greatest importance was that of the Nipon o ddi itsi Harij an abridged 
Japanese chronicle, from a. c. 600 to a. d. 1611, compiled in the 
year 1652, and printed at Miako. Having been carefully compared 
by Klaproth with the original — a task, as he says, from the mani¬ 
fold defects of Titsingh’s version, almost equivalent to a new trans¬ 
lation — and having been enriched with an introduction, a supple¬ 
ment and notes, this work was published in 1834, in French, at 
the expense of the Oriental Translation Fund, under the title of 
“ Annales des Empereurs du Japan''* 

Though highly valuable as a specimen of what Japanese histories 
are, and though Klaproth’s introduction and notes contain some 
curious information, this performance is, on the whole, exceedingly 
dry, while it adds but little to the abstract given by Kampfer of 
this or some other similar work. A criticism which Titsingh him¬ 
self makes upon it, in a letter to the prince of Tamba, to whom he 
had intended to dedicate his translation, is worthy of notice, as 
going to show how little, with all its formal precision of years and 
months, the earlier Japanese chronology is entitled to historical 
respect. “ Must we not suppose,” asks Titsingh, “ that the Japan¬ 
ese, so jealous of their neighbors, the Chinese, have, in writing 
their own history, endeavored to fill up many gaps in it by prolong¬ 
ing the reigns of their earlier Hairi ? There is in your history a 
period of one thousand and sixty-one years occupied by the reigns 
of only sixteen Dairi. The duration of the life of Syn-mu, of the 
reigns of Ko-an, of Sei-sum, and the life of Osin, appear altogether 
improbable. The first died at the age of one hundred and twenty- 
seven years. The second reigned one hundred and two years, the 
third ninety-nine years. The last lived one hundred and ten years. 
These statements are too extraordinary to be blindly believed. 
Grant, even, that a chaste and frugal way of living may have 
secured for these princes a very advanced age, but how does it 
happen that, after Nin-tok-ten-o [the seventeenth Dairi], none ex¬ 
ceeded the ordinary limit of human life ? ” 

The Japanese still cling with tenacity to the formal recognition 
of the absolute rights of the Dairi. With as much warmth as a 
loyal Englishman would exhibit in maintaining the actual sover¬ 
eignty of Queen Victoria, they insisted to Titsingh — and the same 




RELATIONS OF THE DAIRI AND SIOGUN. 


427 


tiling afterwards occurred to Golownin — that Europeans were mis¬ 
taken in applying the term “ emperor ” to the Siogun, the Dairi 
being the only legal emperor, and the Siogun but an officer to whom 
the Dairi had entrusted the administration.* 

The annual visit of the Siogun to the Dairi, made in Caron’s 
time, had been discontinued; but mutual embassies are still ex¬ 
changed, and the envoys sent from the Dairi are received by the 
Siogun as if they were the Dairi himself The Siogun goes to 
meet them, and conducts them to the hall of audience, where he 
performs the kitu, bending before them till his head touches the 
mats, as if they were the very Dairi. This homage finished, the 
Siogun resumes his rank, and the ambassadors then perform the 
kotu to him. During their stay they are entertained by two per¬ 
sons, who, from the allowance made for it, find this office very 
lucrative. The ambassadors also receive rich presents, not only at 
Jedo, but all along the route, and the attendance upon this service, 
even in an inferior capacity, is so lucrative as to be eagerly coveted 
by the poor courtiers of the Dairi. Titsingh encountered one of 
these embassies on his return from Jedo in 1782, and was obliged 
to stop a whole day, and to lodge in a citizen’s house, all the horses, 
portei-s and inns, being taken up by the embassy. However poor 
and powerless, the courtiers of the Dairi still enjoy all the outward 
observances of superior rank. The first princes of the empire must 
pay them the homage of the kitu, and must lay aside their two 
swords in their presence. For this reason, these princes, in going 
and returning to Jedo, carefully avoid passing through Miako. 

A more interesting publication, from the manuscript of Titsingh, 
and one which appeared earlier, is Memoirs of the Bjogouns, which 
had itself been preceded by a number of other pieces, translations 

* Theoretically the Siogun is but an inferior officer at the court of the 
Dairi. The first rank belongs to the Kwanbak, who represents the Dairi 
when that dignity devolves on a woman or a child. The Siogun, it is said, 
cannot hold this office. It was assumed, however, by Taiko-sama, and even 
conferred by him on his presumptive heir. Ordinarily the Tai zio dai sin, 
or president of the council, is the first officer ; then follow the Sa dai sin and 
Ou dai sin, officers of the left and of the right hand. These constitute the 
Dairi’s council, and theoretically the Siogun can do nothing without their 
consent. It is esteemed a great honor to the Siogun to receive even the third 
of these titles. 



428 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


and originals.* These memoirs profess to be compiled from Japan¬ 
ese manuscripts, of which Titsingh gives the following account: 
“ Since the accession of Gongin, founder of the present dynasty, 
the printing of any work relating to the government has been 
prohibited. The curious, however, possess manuscript accounts 
of all the remarkable events that have occurred. These manu¬ 
scripts are in great request. The conduct of persons of elevated 
rank is sometimes as freely censured in them as it would be in any 
country in Europe. The obstructions which the government throws 
in the way of the publication of historical works prevent these 
works from being known, and thus obviate whatever might make 
an obnoxious impression on the minds of the people, and endanger 
the interests of the reigning dynasty, as well as the tranquillity of 
the empire. From some of these manuscripts are extracted the 
particulars here submitted to the public. The Japanese, to whom 
they belong, keep them carefully concealed, so that it is difficult to 
procure a sight of them. If I was fortunate enough to obtain the 
communication of those from which I have extracted such curious 
notes, I am indebted for it to the ardent zeal with which my friends 
assisted me in all my researches.” M. Abel Remusat, the learned 
Orientalist, who, at the request of the French publisher, prefixed 
some preliminary observations to this publication, observes that, 
“ Thanks to the pains M. Titsingh has taken, we shall outstrip the 
Japanese themselves, and, by an extraordinary singularity, we shall 
be earlier and better informed than they concerning the events of 
their own history.” This publication in Europe of Japanese his¬ 
tory is not, however, so much a singularity as M. Remusat seems to 
suppose. The letters of the Jesuit missionaries furnished contem¬ 
porary details of Japanese history extending over a period of more 
than seventy years, and including the establishment of the present 
system of government, far more full and authentic, we may well 
believe, than anything which the Japanese themselves possess, and 
far exceeding anything contained in this book of Titsingh’s, whom 
M. Remusat, perhaps in rather too complimentary a spirit, places 

* There is no such consonant as Dj in Japanese, and the proper reading is 
not Djogoun, but Siogun. An English translation, including both the 
Memoirs of the Djogouns and the other pieces, was published at London, in 
1822, with the title of Illustrations of Japan. 



CONBERVATIVES AND LIBERALS. 


429 


on a level with Kampfer, and in advance of Thunberg, as a contrib¬ 
utor to our knowledge of Japan. 

The memoirs of the Djogouns, made up of detached fragments, in 
general very jejune, contain, however, a few anecdotes, which 
serve to illustrate the ideas and manners of the Japanese. The 
Kubo-Sama reigning in Kampfer’s time is stated to have been 
stabbed, in 1709, by his wife, a daughter of the Dairi, because, 
being childless, he persisted in selecting as his successor a person 
very disagreeable to all the princes — an act which causes her 
memory to be held in high honor. 

One of the longest of these fragments relates to an alleged con¬ 
spiracy, in the year 1767, against the reigning Siogun, for which a 
number of persons suffered death. There is, also, an account of an 
extensive volcanic eruption, which took place in September, 1783, 
in the interior of the island of Nipon, in the province of Sinano, 
north-west of Jedo, and north of Osaka. The mountain Asama vom¬ 
ited sand, ashes, and pumice-stones; the rivers flowing from it were 
heated boiling-hot, and their dammed-up waters inundated the 
country. Twenty-seven villages were swallowed up, and many peo¬ 
ple perished. 

The councillor of state, Tonoma-yamossin^ was assassinated the 
next year (1784), in the emperor’s palace ; but of this event, and of 
others connected with it, Titsingh gives a fuller explanation in his 
Introduction to the Japanese Marriage Ceremonies. He there in¬ 
forms us that “ though many Japanese of the highest distinction, 
and intimately acquainted with matters of government, still con¬ 
sider Japan as the first empire of the world, and care but little 
for what passes out of it, yet such persons are denominated by the 
more enlightened Inoetzi-no-Kajoru — that is, ‘ Frogs in a well ’ — 
a metaphorical expression, which signifies that when they look up 
they can see no more of the sky than what the small circumference 
of the well allows them to perceive.” Of this more enlightened 
party was the extraordinary councillor, Matsdaira Tsu, who pro¬ 
posed, in 1769, the building of ships and junks suitable for foreign 
voyages; but this plan was put a stop to by his death. 

Tango-no-kamiy the governor of Nagasaki, one of this more 
liberal party, with whom Titsingh, while director, kept up a secret 
intercourse, proposed to him, in 1783, to bring carpenters from Ba- 




430 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


tavia, to instruct the Japanese in building vessels, especially for the 
transport of copper from Osaka to Nagasaki, in which service many 
Japanese vessels had been lost, with their cargoes; but this Titsingh 
knew to be impossible, as skilful carpenters were too rare at Bata¬ 
via to be spared. He therefore proposed to take with him, on his 
return to Batavia, a number of Japanese to be instructed there; 
but the prohibition against any native leaving the country proved 
an insurmountable obstacle. He then promised to have a model 
ship built at Batavia, and conveyed to Nagasaki, which was done 
by himself, on his last visit to Japan; but the assassination of 
Tonoma, above mentioned, which had happened during his absence 
at Batavia, put an end to all hopes that had been formed of a mod¬ 
ification in the exclusive policy of the Japanese. 

This Tonoma (son of Tonomo, ordinary councillor, and uncle of 
the Siogun) was, according to Titsingh’s account, a young man of 
uncommon merit and liberal ideas, and the anti-frog-in-a-well 
party flattered themselves that when he should succeed his father, 
he would, as they expressed it, “ widen the road.” After his ap¬ 
pointment as extraordinary councillor, he and his father incurred, 
as Titsingh states, the hatred of the grandees of the court, by intro¬ 
ducing various innovations, which the “ Frogs in a well ” censured 
as detrimental to the empire. It was to this feeling that his assas¬ 
sination was ascribed, a crime which put an end to the hopes which 
had begun to be entertained, of seeing Japan opened to foreigners, 
and of its inhabitants being allowed to visit other countries. 

The appetite for foreign knowledge which Thunberg had noticed, 
was also observed by Titsingh. “ During my residence in Japan,” 
so he writes in the above quoted Introduction, “ several persons of 
quality, at Jedo, Miako, and Osaka, applied themselves assiduously 
to the acquisition of the Dutch language, and the reading of our 
books. The prince of Satsuma, father-in-law of the present Djo- 
goun, used our alphabet to express in his letters what he wished a 
third person not to understand. The surprising progress made by 
the prince of Tamba, by Katsagawa Hozun, physician to the Djo- 
goun, and Nakawa Simnau, physician to the prince of Wakassa,* 

* These two were the very pupils of Thunberg, though he writes their 
names somewhat differently. 




POWER OF THE PRINCES. 


431 


and several others, enabled them to express themselves more clearly 
than many Portuguese, born and bred among us at Batavia. Con¬ 
sidering the short period of our residence [he means, apparently, 
the stay of the Dutch-embassy] at Jedo, such proficiency cannot 
but excite astonishment and admiration. The privilege of corre¬ 
sponding with the Japanese, above mentioned, and of sending them 
back their answers corrected, without the letters being opened by 
the government, allowed through the special favor of the worthy 
governor, Tango-no-Kami^ facilitated to them the learning of 
Dutch.” 

In 1786, the reigning Siogun, Ye-Fasou, died, and was succeeded 
by an adopted son, Yeye-Nari, who was his distant cousin, being a 
great-grandson of his great-grandfather. This prince was married 
to a daughter of the prince of Satsuma, and that is stated to have 
been a principal reason for his adoption, it being the policy of the 
Sioguns thus to secure the attachment of the most powerful princes. 
The reigning family is thus allied to the princes of Kaga, Satsuma, 
Yetsisen, Naugato, and Oxu, while the houses of Voari, Kiusiu, 
and Mino, are descended from the sons of Grongin, from among 
whom, in case of failure of heirs, the Siogun is selected. These 
princes of the first class, notwithstanding the jealous supremacy of 
the emperors, still retain certain privileges. According to Titsingh, 
they enjoy absolute power in their own palaces, with the right of 
life and death over their dependents; nor, in case they commit 
crimes, has the emperor any authority to put them to death. He 
can only, with the Dairi’s assistance, compel them to resign in favor 
of their sons. 

In 1788, a terrible fire occurred at Miako, by which almost the 
entire city, including the palace of the Dairi, was destroyed. The 
particulars of this event were communicated to Titsingh by his 
Japanese correspondents. 

Early in 1793, the summit of the Oun zen ga dak (High moun¬ 
tain of warm springs), in the province of Fisen, west of Simabara, 
sank entirely down. Torrents of boiling water issued from all 
parts of the deep cavity thus formed, and a vapor arose like thick 
smoke. Three weeks after, there was an eruption from a crater, 
about half a league from the summit. The lava soon reached the 
foot of the mountain, and in a few days the country was in flames 



432 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


for miles around. A month after, the whole island of Kiusiu was 
shaken by an earthquake, felt principally, however, in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Simabara. It reduced that part of the province of 
Figo opposite Simabara to a deplorable condition, and even altered 
the whole outline of the coast, sinking many vessels which lay in 
the harbors. This is the event of the latest date mentioned by 
Titsingh. A plan of the eruption, furnished by one of his Jap¬ 
anese correspondents, also one of the eruption in Sinano, in 1783, 
is given in the “ Illustrations of Japan.” 

The matter upon which Titsingh throws the most light is the 
marriage and funeral ceremonies of the Japanese, as to which he 
gives a translation, or, rather, an abridgment, of two Chinese works, 
received as authority in Japan, as to the etiquette to be observed 
on these occasions, at the same time noting the variations intro¬ 
duced by the Japanese. 

The system of Japanese manners, being based on that of the 
Chinese, abounds in punctilios, and the higher the rank of the par¬ 
ties concerned, the more these punctilios are multiplied. This 
applies to marriages, as to other things. The treatise which Tit¬ 
singh follows relates only to the marriages of what we should 
call the middle class (including merchants, artisans, &c.), who, 
though often possessed of considerable wealth, hold in Japan much 
the same subordinate position held prior to the French revolution 
by the corresponding class in France. 

With persons of high rank, marriages are made entirely from 
family convenience; even with those of the middle class they are 
also much based on prudential considerations. Formerly, the 
bridegroom never saw the bride till she entered his house, which 
she does, preceded by a woman bearing a lantern, which originally 
served the bridegroom to catch his first glimpse of the bride, and, 
if he did not like her looks, the match might be broken off, and the 
bride sent home. “ Such cases,” says Titsingh, “ formerly occurred; 
but at present, beauty is held in much less estimation than for¬ 
tune and high birth — advantages to which people would once 
have been ashamed to attach so much value, and the custom has 
been by degrees entirely laid aside, on account of the mortification 
which it must give to the bride. At present, when a young man 
has any intention of marrying a female, whom he deems likely, 




MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 


433 


from the situation of her parents, to be a suitable match, he first 
seeks to obtain a sight of her. *If he likes her person, a mediator, 
selected from among his married friends, is sent to negotiate a 
match. People of quality have neither lantern nor mediator, 
because the parents afiiance the children in infancy, and marriage 
always follows. Should it so happen that the husband dislikes the 
wife, he takes as many concubines as he pleases. This is also the 
case among persons of the inferior classes. The children are 
adopted by the wife, who is respected in proportion to the number 
of which she is either the actual or nominal mother.” 

Formerly the bride was not allowed, in case of the bridegroom’s 
death before the consummation of the nuptials, to marry again. A 
moving story is told of a romantic Japanese young lady, who, being 
urged by her friends to a second betrothal, to avoid such a sacrifice 
of her delicacy, cut off her hair, and, when that would not answer, 
her nose also. But this antique constancy has, in these latter 
depraved times — depraved in Japan as well as elsewhere — en¬ 
tirely disappeared, as well among the nobility as the common 
people. 

The match having been agreed upon, the bridegroom’s father 
sends a present — nothing is done in Japan without presents 
—to the bride’s father. The bearer, accompanied by the mediator, 
delivers not only the presents and a written list or invoice of them, 
but a complimentary message also. For these presents a written 
receipt is given, and, three days after, the bearer and those who 
attended him are complimented by a counter present. 

The following articles are then got ready at the bride’s house by 
the way of outfit: A white wedding-dress, embroidered with 
gold or silver; four other dresses, one with a red, a second with 
a black ground, one plain white, a fourth plain yellow; a num¬ 
ber of gowns, both lined and single, and all the other requisites 
of a wardrobe, as girdles, bathing-gowns, under robes, both fine and 
coarse, a thick furred robe for a bed-gown; a mattress to sleep 
on ; bed-clothes; pillows; gloves; carpets; bed-curtains; a silk cap; 
a furred cotton cap; long and short towels; a cloak; a covering for 
a norimon ; a bag with a mixture of bran, wheat and dried herbs, to 
be used in washing the face ; also, a bag of toothpicks, some skeins 
of thin twine, made of twisted paper, for tying up the hair; a small 
37 




434 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


hand-mirror; a little box of medicines; a small packet of the best 
columbac, for painting the lips; several kinds of paper for doing 
up packages; also paper for writing letters; a hollo (a kind of 
harp); a samsi (a sort of guitar); a small chest for holding paper ; 
an inkhorn; a pin-cushion; several sorts of needles; a box of 
combs ; a mirror with its stand ; a mixture for blacking the teeth 
(the distinguishing mark of married women in Japan, some black¬ 
ening them the moment they are married, and others when they 
become pregnant); curling-tongs for the hair; scissors; a letter- 
case ; a case of razors; several small boxes, varnished or made of 
osier; dusters; a case of articles for dressing the hair; an iron 
for smoothing linen; a large osier basket to hold the linen; 
a tub with handles; a small dagger, with a white sheath, 
in a little bag (thought to drive away evil spirits and to pre¬ 
serve from infectious exhalations — a quality ascribed also to the 
swords worn by the men); complimentary cards, made of paper, 
variously colored, and gilt or silvered at the ends, to tie 
round presents; nosi, a species of edible sea-weed, of which 
small pieces are attached to every congratulatory present; silk 
thread ; a small tub to hold flax ; several slender bamboos, used in 
hanging out clothes to dry; circular fans; common fans; fire-tu¬ 
reens ; and — what certainly ought to form a part of the bridal out¬ 
fit of our city belles — a small bench for supporting the elbows 
when the owner has nothing to do ! Several books are also added, 
poems and stories, moral precepts, a book on the duties of woman 
in the married state, and another — the very one we are now giv¬ 
ing an abstract of— on the etiquette of the marriage ceremony. 
Two different kinds of dressing-tables are also provided, containing 
many of the above-mentioned articles; also a number of other house¬ 
keeping utensils. 

When these things are ready, the mediator and his wife are 
invited to the house of the bride’s father, and entertained there. A 
lucky day is selected for sending the above-mentioned articles, ac¬ 
companied by a written list, to the bridegroom’s house. The 
mediator is present to assist in receiving them, and a formal receipt 
is given, as well as refreshments and presents to the bearers in pro¬ 
portion to the value of the articles brought. 

On the day fixed for the marriage, an intelligent female servant 




MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 


435 


of the second class* is sent to the house of the bride to attend her; 
and the bride’s father, having invited all his kinsfolk, entertains 
them previous to the bride’s departure. 

The bridal party sets out in norimons, the mediator’s wife first, 
then the bride, then the bride’s mother, and, finally, her father. 
The mediator has already preceded them to the bridegroom’s 
house. The bride is dressed in white (white being the color for 
mourning among the Japanese), being considered as thenceforward 
dead to her parents. 

If all the ceremonies are to be observed, there should be stationed, 
at the right of the entrance to the house of the bridegroom, an old 
woman, and on the left an old man, each with a mortar containing 
some rice-cakes. As the bride’s norimon reaches the house, they 
begin to pound their respective mortars, the man saying, “ A thou¬ 
sand years! ” the woman, “ Ten thousand ! ” — allusions to the 
reputed terms of life of the crane and the tortoise thus invoked for 
the bride. As the norimon passes between them, the man pours his 
cakes into the woman’s mortar, and both pound together. What is 
thus pounded is moulded into two cakes, which are put one upon 
another and receive a conspicuous place in the toko t of the room 
where the marriage is to be celebrated. 

The norimon is met within the passage by the bridegroom, who 
stands in his dress of ceremony ready to receive it. There is also a 
woman seated there with a lantern, and several others behind her. 
It was, as already mentioned, by the light of this lantern that for¬ 
merly the groom first saw his bride, and, if dissatisfied with her, 
exercised his right of putting a stop to the ceremony. The bride, 
on seeing the bridegroom, reaches to him, through the front window 
of her norimon, her marmori^ ^ and he hands it to a female servant 

* There are three classes of wo men-servants. Those of the first class make 
the clothes of the mistress, dress her hair, and keep her apartments in order. 
Those of the second wait on her at meals, accompany her when she goes 
abroad, and attend to other domestic duties. Those of the thii’d are employed 
in cooking and various menial offices. 

t The toko, as already described in Chap, xxxii., is a sort of recess, or open 
closet, opposite the entrance, considered the most honorable place in the 
room. The above ceremony might call to mind, the confarratio of the 
ancient Roman marriage. 

^ This is a small, square or oblong bag, containing a small image of metal. 



4^0 


JAPAN. -A. D. 1779—1791. 


who takes it into the apartment prepared for the wedding and 
hangs it up. The bride is also led to her apartment, the woman 
with the lantern preceding. 

The marriage beiiig now about to take place, the bride is led, by 
one of her waiting-Avonien, into the room where it is to be cele¬ 
brated, and is seated there with two female attendants on either 
side. The bridegroom then leaves his room and comes into this 
apartment. No other persons are present except the mediator and 
his wife. The formality of the marriage consists in drinking 
saki after a particular manner. The saki is poured out by two 
young girls, one of whom is called the male butterfly, and the other 
the female butterfly, —appellations derived from their sum^ or 
saki-jugs, each of which is adorned with a paper butterfly. As 
these insects always fly about in pairs, it is intended to intimate 
that so the husband and wife ought to be continually together. The 
male butterfly always pours out the saki to be drank, but, before 
doing so, turns a little to the left, when the female butterfly pours 
from her jug a little saki into the jug of the other, who then pro¬ 
ceeds to pour out for the ceremony. For drinking it, three bowls 
are used, placed on a tray or waiter, one within the other. The 
bride takes the uppermost, holds it in both hands, while some saki 
is poured into it, sips a little, three several times, and then hands 
it to the groom. He drinks three times in like manner, puts the 
bowl under the third, takes the second, hands it to be filled, drinks 
out of it three times, and passes it to the bride. She drinks three 
times, puts the second bowl under the first, takes the third, holds it 
to be filled, drinks three times, and then hands it to the groom, who 
does the same, and afterwards puts this bowl under the first. 
This ceremony constitutes the marriage. The bride’s parents, who 
meanwhile were in another room, being informed that this ceremony 
is over, come in, as do the bridegroom’s parents and brothers, and 
seat themselves in a certain order. The saki, with other refresh¬ 
ments interspersed, is then served, by the two butterflies, to these 
relations of the married parties in a prescribed order, indicated by 
the mediator; the two families, by this ceremony, extending, as it 

wood or stone, supposed* to operate as a sort of amulet, sopietlimg like the 
medicine-bag of our North American Indians. 




MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 


437 


were, to each other the alliance already contracted between the 
bride and bridegroom. 

Next follows the delivery of certain presents on the part of the 
bride to the bridegroom, his relatives and the servants of the house¬ 
hold. These are brought by a female, who arranges them in order 
in an adjoining room, and hands written lists of them to the medi¬ 
ator, who passes it to the bridegroom’s father, who, having received 
the paper, returns thanks, then reads the lists aloud, and again 
returns thanks. 

The bridegroom then presents the bride with two robes, one with 
a red and the other with a black ground, embroidered with gold or 
silver. The bride retires, puts on these robes, and again returns. 
Refreshments of a peculiar kind then follow, the bride, to spare her 
bashfulness, being suffered to eat in a room by herself. 

This entertainment over, the parents of the bride prepare to 
leave her. They are accompanied by those of the bridegroom, and 
by the bride herself, to the door; the bridegroom with two servants 
bears candles, shows the way, and takes leave with compliments. 

Sometimes the bridegroom proceeds, that same night, with his 
parents and the mediator, to the house of the bride’s father, where 
the contracting of relationship by drinking saki is again gone 
through with, the bride remaining behind in her husband’s house, 
where she is meanwhile entertained by his brothers. On this occa¬ 
sion the father of the bride presents his new son-in-law with a 
sabre. Presents are also delivered on the part of the bridegroom 
to the bride’s relations. 

The feasting over, the bridegroom and his parents return home, 
and are received at the door by the bride. 

In making the bed for the bride, her pillow is placed towards the 
north (the practice followed with the dead, for she is thenceforward 
to be considered as dead to her parents). Such is stated to have 
been the ancient custom, though now generally disused. 

The beds having been prepared, the bride is conducted to hers by 
one of the women appointed to attend her, and the same person 
introduces the bridegroom into the apartment. The young couple 
are waited on by the male and female butterflies. One of the 
bride’s women sleeps secretly in the adjoining chamber. 

The bridal chamber is abundantly furnished with all the numer- 

37 * 



438 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1779—1791. 


ous articles of the Japanese toilet, including a greater or less quan¬ 
tity, according to their rank, of wearing apparel, hung on movable 
racks or clothes-horses. 

In families of the rank of the governors of Nagasaki the bride 
is portioned with twelve robes, each upon a distinct horse; namely, 
a blue robe, for the first month, embroidered with fir-trees or bam¬ 
boos ; a sea-green robe, for the second month, with cherry flowers 
and buttercups; a robe of light red, for the third month, with 
willows and cherry-trees; a robe of pearl color, for the fourth 
month, embroidered with the cuckoo, and small spots representing 
islands; a robe of faint yellow, for the flfth month, embroidered 
with waves an^ sword-grass; a robe of bright orange, for the sixth 
month, embroidered with melons and with an impetuous torrent — 
the rainy season falling in this and the previous month; a white 
robe, for the seventh month, with kiki flowers, white and purple; a 
red robe, for the eighth month, sprinkled with sloe-leaves; a 
violet robe, for the ninth month, embroidered with flowers of the 
Chrysanthemum indicum^ a very splendid flower; an olive-colored 
robe, for the tenth month, with representations of a road and ears 
of rice cut OS'; a black robe, for the eleventh month, embroidered 
with emblems of ice and icicles; a purple robe, for the twelfth 
month, embroidered with emblems of snow. Beyond some per¬ 
sonal outfit of this sort, it is said not to be the custom to portion 
daughters. 

Next morning the young couple take a warm bath, and then 
breakfast together. Soon after numerous presents come in, of which 
a careful account is kept; the bride also receives visits of con¬ 
gratulation. The day after, all the bridegroom’s people are treated 
with cakes in the apartment of the bride; and rice-cake, put up 
in boxes, is sent to all the near relations who did not attend the 
wedding. 

After the expiration of three days the bride pays a visit to her 
parents, preceded by a present from her husband, one corresponding 
to which is sent back when the bride returns. All the preceding 
ceremonies over, the bride, accompanied by her mother-in-law, or 
some aged female relative, pays a visit to all who have sent her 
presents, thanks them, and offers a suitable return,—a supply of 
suitable presents- for this purpose having been provided for her 




FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 


439 


before she left her father’s house. Seven days after the wedding, 
the bridegroom and four or five of his intimate friends are invited 
by the parents of the bride to a grand entertainment. A few days 
after, the bridegroom invites the relatives of the bride to a similar 
entertainment, and so the matrimonial solemnities terminate. 

The J apanese have two ways of disposing of the dead — dosiy or 
interment, gunsoy or burning — and persons about to die generally 
state which method they prefer. 

Of the funeral ceremonies observed at Nagasaki, Titsingh gives 
the following account: The body, after being carefully washed 
by a favorite servant, and the head shaved, is clothed according 
to the state of the weather, and (if a female, in her best apparel) 
exactly as in life, except that the sash is tied, not in a bow, 
but strongly fastened with two knots, to indicate that it is never 
more to be loosed. The body is then covered with a piece 
of linen, folded in a peculiar manner, and is placed on a mat in the 
middle of the hall, the head to the north. Food is offered to it, 
and all the family lament. 

After being kept for forty-eight hours, the body is placed on its 
knees in a tub-shaped coffin, which is enclosed in a square, oblong 
box, or bier, the top of which is roof-shaped, called quart. Two 
ifays are also prepared — wooden tablets of a peculiar shape and 
fashion, containing inscriptions commemorative of the deceased, the 
time of his decease, and the name given to him since that event. 

The ifays and quan, followed by the eldest son and the family, 
servants, friends and acquaintances, are borne in a procession, with 
flags, lanterns, &c., to one of the neighboring temples, whence, after 
certain ceremonies, in which the priests take a leading part, they 
are carried, by the relatives only, to the grave, where a priest, 
while waiting their arrival, repeats certain hymns. The moment they 
are come, the tub containing the body is taken out of the quan and 
deposited in the grave, which is then filled with earth and covered 
with a flat stone, which again is covered with earth, and over the 
whole is placed the quan and one of the ifays, which is removed at 
the end of seven weeks, to make room for the siseky or grave-stone. 
If the deceased had preferred to be burnt, the quan is taken to the 
summit of one of two neighboring mountains, on the top of each of 
which is a sort of furnace, prepared for this purpose, enclosed in a 




440 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1779—1791. 


small hut. The coffin is then taken from the quan, and, being 
placed in the furnace, a great fire is kindled. The eldest son is 
provided with an earthen urn, in which first the bones and then the 
ashes are put, after which the mouth of the urn is sealed up. 
While the body is burning, a priest recites hymns. The urn is 
then carried to the grave, and deposited in it, and, the grave being 
filled up, the quan is placed over it. 

The eldest son and his brothers are dressed in white, in garments 
of undyed hempen stuff, as are the bearers, and all females attend¬ 
ing the funeral, whether relatives or not; the others wear their 
usual dresses. The females are carried in norimons, behind the 
male part of the procession, which proceeds on foot, the nearest 
relatives coming first. The eldest daughter takes precedence 
of the wife. The eldest son and heir, whether by blood or adop¬ 
tion, who is the chief mourner, wears also a broad-brimmed hat, of 
rushes, which hang about his shoulders, and in this attire does not 
recognize nor salute anybody. 

It is a remarkable circumstance that relatives in the ascending 
line, and seniors, never attend the funerals of their junior kindred, 
nor go into mourning for them. Thus, if the second son should 
die, neither father, mother, uncle, aunt, elder brother lior elder sis¬ 
ter, would attend the funeral. 

Th^ laboring classes are not required to go into mourning; yet 
some of them do for two, three, or four days. With them the 
burial takes place after twenty-four hours. With the upper class 
the mourning is fixed at fifty days. It used to be twice that time, 
but is said to have been cut down by Jesi Jas (founder of the reign¬ 
ing dynasty), that the business of the public functionaries might 
suffer the less interruption. Persons in mourning stay at home, 
abstain from animal food of any description, and from saki, and 
neither cut their nails nor shave their heads. 

One of the ifays is left, as has been mentioned, at the grave; the 
other, during the period of mourning, is set up in the best apart¬ 
ment of the house of the deceased. Sweetmeats, fruit and tea, are 
placed before it, and morning, noon and night, food is offered to it, 
served up as to a living person. Two candles, fixed in candlesticks, 
burn by it, night and day, and a lighted lantern is hung up on 
either side. The whole household, of both sexes,.servants included, 




MOURNING. 


441 


pray before it morning and evening. This is kept up for seven 
weeks, and during each week, from the day of the death, a priest 
attends and reads hymns for an hour before the ifay. He is each 
time supplied with ornaments, and paid a fee of from five to six mas. 

During these seven weeks the son goes every day, be the weather 
what it may, and says a prayer by the grave. He wears his rush 
hat, through which he can see without being seen, speaks to 
nobody, and is dressed in white. With this exception, and a cere¬ 
monious visit, in the third, fourth or fifth week, to the relatives and 
friends, he remains in his house, with the door fastened. It is cus¬ 
tomary to erect a small hut near the grave, in which a servant 
watches, noting down the names of all who come to visit it. 

When the seven weeks are over, the mourner shaves and dresses, 
opens his door, and goes, if an officer, to inform the governor that 
his days of mourning are over. He next pays a complimentary 
visit to all who attended the funeral, or have visited the grave, 
sending them also a complimentary present. The sisek, or grave¬ 
stone (almost precisely like those in use with us), is placed over the 
grave, and two ifays, varnished black and superbly gilt, are provided, 
one of which is sent to a temple. The other remains at home, 
kept in a case in a small apartment, appropriated for that purpose, 
in which are kept the ifays of all the ancestors of the family. It 
is customary every morning, after rising and dressing, to take the 
ifay out of its case, and to burn a little incense before it, bowing 
the head in token of respect. 

Though the wearing of white garments and other formalities of 
the special mourning, called im% cease at the end of fifty days at 
the longest, bright colors are not to be worn, or a Sinto temple to 
be entered, for thirteen months, and this is called huku. For a 
husband, imi lasts thirty days and buku thirteen months. For a 
wife, imi twenty days and buku three months; for grand-parents and 
uncles, the periods are thirty days and five months; for an eldest 
brother or sister, or aunt on the father’s side, and great-grand-par¬ 
ents, twenty days and three months; for great-great-grand-parents 
and aunts on the mother’s side, fathers and mothers-in-law, brother-in- 
law or sister-in-law, or eldest grandchild, ten days and one month; 
for other grandchildren, and for cousins of either sex, and their 
children, three days and seven days. For children under the 





442 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1776-1776. 


age of seven years, whatever the relationship, there is no moum- 
ing. 

The great dignitaries must wear mourning for the Siogun; all 
of&cers, civil and military, for their princes; and whoever derives 
his subsistence from another must mourn for him as for a father. 
Pupils also must mourn for their teacher, education being esteemed 
equivalent to a livelihood. The sons of a mother, repudiated by her 
husband and expelled from his" house, mourn for her as if dead. 

In case of persons holding office, who die suddenly without pre¬ 
viously having resigned in favor of their heirs, it is not unusual to 
bury them, the night after their death, in a private manner. The 
death, though whispered about, is not officially announced. The 
heir, who dresses and acts as usual, notifies the authorities that his 
father is sick and wishes to resign. Having obtained the succes¬ 
sion, he soon after announces his father’s death, and the formal 
funeral and mourning then take place. 

The honors paid to deceased parents do not terminate with the 
mourning. Every month, on the day of the ancestor’s decease, for 
fifty, or even for'a hundred years, food, sweetmeats and fruit, are set 
before the ifay. One hundred days after the decease of a father or 
mother, an entertainment is to be given to all the intimate friends, 
including the priest who presided at the funeral. This is to be 
repeated a year from the death; and again on the third, seventh, 
thirteenth, twentyffifth, thirty-third, fiftieth, hundredth, and hun¬ 
dred and fiftieth anniversary, and so on, as long as the family 
exists. To secure the due payment to themselves of funeral hon¬ 
ors, those who have no sons of their own adopt one. If any acci¬ 
dent, fortunate or disastrous, happens to the family, it is formally 
communicated to the ifays, such as the birth of a child, a safe 
return from a journey, &c. In case of floods or fires, the ifays 
must be saved in preference to everything else, their loss being 
regarded as the greatest of misfortunes. 

The fifteenth day of the seventh Japanese month is a festival, 
devoted to the honor of parents and ancestors. Every Japanese, 
whose parents are still living, considers this a happy day. People 
regale themselves and their children with fish. Married sons and 
daughters, or adopted sons, send presents to their parents. On the 
evening of the 13th, the ifays are taken from their cases, and a 





FEAST OF LANTERNS. 


443 


repast set before them, of vegetables and the fruits then ripening. 
In the middle is set a vase, in which perfumes are burnt, and other 
vases containing flowers. The next day, meals of rice, tea and 
other food, are regularly served to the ifays, as to living guests. 

Towards evening, lanterns, suspended from long bamboos, are 
lighted before each sisek, or grave-stone, and refreshments are also 
placed there. This is repeated on the fifteenth. Before daylight 
of the sixteenth the articles placed at the graves are packed into 
small boats of straw, provided with sails of paper or cloth, which 
are carried in procession with vocal and instrumental music, and 
loud cries, to the water-side, where they are launched, by way of 
dismissing the souls of the dead, who are supposed now to return to 
their graves. “ This festival,” says Titsingh, speaking of its cele¬ 
bration at Nagasaki, “ produces a highly picturesque efiect. Out¬ 
side the town, the view of it from the island Besima is one of the 
most beautiful. The spectator would almost imagine that he beheld 
a torrent of fire pouring from the hill, owing to the immense num¬ 
ber of small boats that are carried to the shore to be turned adrift 
on the sea. In the middle of the night, and when there is a brisk 
wind, the agitation of the water causing all these lights to dance to 
and fro, produces an enchanting scene. The noise and bustle in 
the town, the sound of gongs and the voices of the priests, combine 
to form a discord that can scarcely be conceived. The whole bay 
seems to be covered with ignes fatui. Though these barks have 
sails of paper, or stronger stufif, very few of them pass the place 
where our ships lie at anchor. In spite of the guards, thousands 
of paupers rush into the water to secure the small copper coin and 
other things placed in them. Next day, they strip the barks of all 
that is left, and the tide carries them out to sea. Thus terminates 
this ceremony.” * 

* Father Vilela, in a letter written from Sacai, 1562, in the month of 
August (at which time this festival happens), describes it in a very lively 
manner. He represents the people as going out two days before, as if to 
meet their dead relations, spreading a feast to refresh them after their long 
journey, escorting them to their hdhses, talking to them as if they were 
present, and, finally, dismissing them with torches, lest they might stumble 
in the dark, or miss their way. This, Vilela adds, is a great time for the 
bonzes, the very poorest offering them some gift, for their religious aid on 
this occasion. 



CHAPTER XLII. 


EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHERN JAPANESE SEAS. — FIRST RUSSIAN MISSION 
TO JAPAN.-PROFESSORSHIP OF JAPANESE AT IRKUTSK.-NEW RESTRIC¬ 
TIONS ON THE DUTCH.-EMBARRASSMENTS GROWING OUT OF THE WAR OP 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. -AMERICAN FLAG AT NAGASAKI. -CAPTAIN 

STEWART.-INGENUITY OF A JAPANESE FISHERMAN.- IlEER DOEFF, DI¬ 
RECTOR AT DESIMA.-SUSPICIOUS PROCEEDINGS OF CAPTAIN STEWART. 

-RUSSIAN EMBASSY.—KLAPROTH’S KNOWLEDGE OF JAPANESE.—DOEFF’S 

FIRST JOURNEY TO JEDO. DUTCH TRADE IN 1804 AND 1806. AN AMER¬ 
ICAN SHIP AT NAGASAKI. THE BRITISH FRIGATE PHAETON. NO SHIPS 

FROM BATAVIA. — THE DUTCH ON SHORT ALLOWANCE.-ENGLISH SHIPS 

FROM BATAVIA. -COMMUNICATION AGAIN SUSPENDED. ■— DUTCH AND JAP¬ 

ANESE DICTIONARY. — CHILDREN AT THE FACTORY.—A. D. 1792—1817. 

Till comparatively a recent period Europe was very much in 
the dark as to the geography of north-eastern Asia. Through the 
explorations and conquests of the Russians, Kamtchatka (long be¬ 
fore visited by the Japanese) first became known to Europeans, 
about the year 1700. The exploration of the Kurile Islands, 
stretching from the southern point of that peninsula, led the Rus¬ 
sians towards Japan. In 1713 the Cossack Kosierewski reached 
Konashir (the twentieth Kurile, according to the Russian reckoning, 
beginning from Kamtchatka), close to the north-eastern coast of 
Jeso, and claimed by the Japanese. In 1736, Spagenburg, a Dane 
in the Russian service, visited all the southern Kuriles, coasted the 
island of Jeso, made the land of Nipon, and entered several har¬ 
bors on its eastern coast. Thesft explorations were renewed by 
Potonchew, in 1777 ; but it was not till 1787 that La Perouse 
obtained for Europe the first distinct knowledge of the outline of 
the Sea of Japan, of the relative situations of Sagaleen and Jeso, 
and of the strait between them, which still bears his name. 


RUSSIAN MISSION THITHER. 


445 


In 1791, the Argonaut, an English ship employed in the fur 
trade on the north-west coast of America, made the western coast 
of Japan, and attempted to trade ; but she was immediately sur¬ 
rounded by lines of boats; all intercourse with the shore was pre¬ 
vented, and she was dismissed with a gratuitous supply of wood 
and water. In 1795-7, Captain Broughton, in an English explor¬ 
ing vessel, coasted the southern and eastern shore of Jeso, sailed 
among the southern Kuriles, and touched at several places on the 
southern part of Sagaleen. Besides the natives, he found a few 
Japanese, who treated him with much attention, but were very 
anxious for his speedy departure. Japanese officers came from 
Jeso, expressly to look after him, to restrict his communications 
and to send him off, with all civility indeed, but as speedily as 
possible. 

Previous to Broughton’s voyage, Russia had already made a first 
attempt at a commercial and diplomatic intercourse with Japan. 
The crew of a Japanese vessel, shipwrecked in the Sea of Okhotsk, 
had been saved by the Russians, about 1782, and taken to Irkutsk, 
in Siberia, where they lived for ten years. At length the governor 
of Siberia was directed, by the empress Catherine II., to send home 
these Japanese, and with them an envoy, not as from her, but from 
himself. Lieutenant Laxman, selected for this purpose, sailed from 
Okhotsk in the autumn of 1792, landed on the northern coast of 
Jeso, and passed the winter there. The next summer he entered 
the harbor of Hakodade, on the northern coast of the Strait of 
Sangar. From that town he travelled by land to the city of Mats- 
mai, three days’ journey to the west, and the chief Japanese settle¬ 
ment on the island, the authorities of which, after communicating 
with Jedo, delivered to him a paper to the following effect: “ That 
although it was ordained by the laws of J apan, that any foreigners 
landing anywhere on the coast, except at Nagasaki, should be seized 
and condemned to perpetual imprisonment; yet, considering the 
ignorance of the Russians, and their having brought back the ship¬ 
wrecked Japanese, they might be permitted to depart, on condition 
of never approaching, under any pretence, any part of the coast 
except Nagasaki. As to the Japanese brought back, the govern¬ 
ment was much obliged to the Russians; who, however, were at 
liberty to leave them or take them away again, as they pleased, it 



446 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1792—1817. 


being the law of Japan that such persons ceased to be Japanese, 
and became the subjects of that governpient into whose hands des¬ 
tiny had cast them. With respect to commercial negotiations, those 
could only take place at Nagasaki; and a paper was sent author¬ 
izing a Russian vessel to enter that port for that purpose; but as 
the Christian worship was not allowed in Japan, any persons ad¬ 
mitted into Nagasaki must carefully abstain from it.” 

Laxman was treated with great courtesy, though kept in a sort of 
confinement; he was supported, with his crew, by the Japanese 
authorities, while he remained, and was dismissed with presents and 
an ample supply of provisions, for which no payment would be 
received. 

Here the matter rested for several years; but into a school for 
teaching navigation, which Catherine II. established at Irkutsk, the 
capital of Eastern Siberia, she introduced a professorship of the Jap- 
anese language, the professors being taken from among the Japanese 
shipwrecked from time to time on the coast of Siberia. Meanwhile, 
even the Dutch commerce to Japan had undergone some new re¬ 
strictions. Whether from the prevalence of the “ frog-in-a-well ” 
policy, or from apprehensions, as it was said, of the exhaustion of 
the copper mines, the Dutch in 1790 were limited to a single ship 
annually, while, to accommodate their expenditures to this diminished 
trade, the hitherto yearly embassy to Jedo was to be sent only once 
in four years, though annual presents to the emperor and his officers 
were still required as before. 

The occupation of Holland by the French armies not only ex¬ 
posed Dutch vessels to capture by the English, it cost Holland sev¬ 
eral of her eastern colonies, and thus placed new obstacles in the 
way of the Japanese trade. It was no doubt to diminish the dan¬ 
ger of capture by the British, that, in the year 1797, the ship de¬ 
spatched from Batavia sailed under the American flag, and carried 
American papers, while the commander, one Captain Stewart, though 
in reality an Englishman from Madras or Bengal, passed for an 
American, and his ship as the Eliza, of New York. That the 
crew of this vessel spoke English, and not Dutch, was immediately 
noticed by the interpreters at Nagasaki, and produced a great 
sensation among the Japanese officials; but at last, after vast 
difficulty, they were made to understand that though the crew 





INGENUITY OF A JAPANESE FISHERMAN. 


447 


spoke English, they were not “ the English,” but of another na¬ 
tion, and, what was a still more essential point, that they had 
nothing to do with the trade, but were merely hired to bring the 
goods in order to save them from capture; as a result of which 
explanation it was finally agreed that the Eliza should be con¬ 
sidered as a Dutch ship. 

The same vessel and captain returned again the next year; but 
in leaving the harbor for Batavia, loaded with camphor and copper, 
she struck a hidden rock, and sunk. The first scheme hit upon for 
raising the vessel was to send down divers to discharge the copper; 
but two of them lost their lives from the suffocating effect of the 
melting camphor, and this scheme had to be abandoned. Heavily 
laden as she was, every effort at raising her proved abortive, till 
at last the object was accomplished by a Japanese fisherman, who 
volunteered his services. He fastened to each side of the sunken 
vessel some fifteen of the Japanese boats used in towing, and a 
large Japanese coasting craft to the stem, and, taking advantage of 
a stiff breeze and a spring tide, dragged the sunken vessel from the 
rock, and towed her into a spot where, upon the ebbing of the tide, 
she could be discharged without difficulty. ‘ For this achieve¬ 
ment the fisherman was raised, by the prince of Fisen, to which 
province he belonged, to the rank of a noble, being privileged to 
wear two swords, and to take as his insignia or arms a Dutch hat 
and two tobacco pipes. 

When repaired and reloaded, the Eliza sailed again ; but being 
dismasted in a storm, returned to refit, by reason of which she was 
detained so long, that the ship of 1799, also under American colors, 
and this time it would seem a real American, the Franklin, Cap¬ 
tain Devereux, arrived at Nagasaki, and was nearly loaded before 
Captain Stewart was ready to sail. In this ship of 1799 came out, 
to be stationed as an officer at the factory, Heer Hendrick Doeff, who 
remained there for the next seventeen years, and to whose Recollec¬ 
tions of Japan, written in Dutch, and published in Holland in 
1835, we are greatly indebted for what we know of the occurrences 
in Japan during that period. It was, however, a very unfortunate 
circumstance, tending considerably to diminish the value of his 
book, that all his papers were lost by the foundering of the ship in 
which he sailed from Batavia for Holland, in 1819, the crew and 




448 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1792—1817. 


passengers escaping barely with their lives; after which, he allowed 
near fifteen years more to pass before he drew upon his memory for 
the materials of his book, which was only published at length to 
correct some misapprehensions, upon matters personal to himself, 
likely to arise, as he feared, from publications which preceded his 
own. His book, indeed, is mainly devoted to the defence of the 
Dutch nation and the affairs of the factory, against the strictures 
of Rafl9.es and others, throwing only some incidental light upon the 
Japanese, the knowledge of whom, so far as it is accessible to resi¬ 
dents at Desima, had indeed been pretty well exhausted by previous 
writers. 

Captain Stewart, refusing to wait for the other ship, set sail at 
once ; but he did not arrive at Batavia. He reappeared, however, 
the next year at Nagasaki, representing himself as having been ship¬ 
wrecked, with the loss of everything ; but as having found a friend 
at Manilla, who had enabled him to buy and lade the brig in which 
he had now come back, for the purpose, as he said, of discharging, 
out of the sale of her cargo, his debt due to the factory for the ad¬ 
vances made for the repairs of his lost vessel. Heer Wadenaar, the 
director, saw, however, or thought he saw, in this proceeding, a 
scheme for gaining a commercial footing at Nagasaki, independent 
of the regular trade from Batavia. He caused the goods to be sold 
and applied to the discharge of Stewart’s debt; but he declined to 
furnish any return cargo for the brig, and he arrested Stewart, and 
sent him a prisoner to Batavia; whence, however, soon after his 
arrival there, he made his escape. He reappeared again at Nagasaki 
in 1803, still under the American flag, but coming now from Ben¬ 
gal and Canton, with a cargo of Indian and Chinese goods. He solic¬ 
ited permission to trade and to supply himself with water and oil. 
With these latter he was gratuitously furnished, but liberty to trade 
was refused, and he was compelled to depart; nor was anything 
further heard of him. DoefF seems to have supposed him a real 
American, and his last expedition an American adventure; but 
in a pamphlet on Java and its trade, published at Batavia in 1800, 
by Heer Hagendorp, and quoted by Raflles in his history of Java, 
Stewart is expressly stated to have been an Englishman from Ma¬ 
dras or Bengal, — a statement which seems to be confirmed by his 
coming from Bengal on his last arrival at Nagasaki, and a fact as 



KUSSIAN EMBASSY. 


449 


to which Hagendorp, who held a high official position, would not 
have been likely to be mistaken.* 

The next circumstance of importance mentioned by Doeif was the 
arrival in October, 1804, in the harbor of Nagasaki, of a Russian 
vessel, commanded by Captain Krusenstern, and having on board 
Count Resanoff, sent as ambassador from the Czar, in somewhat 
late prosecution of the negotiation commenced by Laxman in 1792. 
This vessel brought back a number of shipwrecked Japanese,! and 
her coming had been notified to the governor of Nagasaki, through 
the medium of the Dutch authorities at Batavia and Desima. 
There are two Russian narratives of this expedition, one by Kru¬ 
senstern, the other by LangsdorfF, who was attached to the embassy. 
Both ascribe the failure of the mission to the jealous opposition of 
the Dutch. Doefif, on the contrary, insists that he did everything 
he could — for by this time he was director — to aid the Russians, 
and that they had only to blame their own obstinacy in refusing to 
yield to the demands of the Japanese. 

The dispute began upon the very first boarding of the Russian 
ship, on which occasion the Japanese officers took the Dutch di¬ 
rector with them. Resanoff consented to give up his powder, but 
insisted upon retaining his arms; he also refused those prostra¬ 
tions which the boarding-officers demanded as representatives 
of the emperor. These points were referred to Jedo ; but, mean¬ 
time (Doeff says, through his solicitations), the ship with the arms on 
board was permitted to anchor. The Dutch and Russians were 
allowed to pass the first evening together, but afterwards they were 
jealously separated, though they contrived to keep up an occasional 
intercourse through the connivance of the interpreters. The annual 
ship from Batavia, this year Dutch, then at Desima, was removed 
to another and distant berth. When she left, no letters were 
allowed to be sent by the Russians, except a bare despatch, first 

* Krusenstern, in his narrative of the Russian embassy of Resanoff (as to 
which see next paragraph of the text), speaks of the last expedition of Stew¬ 
art as fitted out by some English merchants in Calcutta, and gives to the 
captain the name of Torey. Very likely he had both names. 

t The whole party consisted of fifteen, but of these only five, and those the 
most worthless, were willing to return home. The others preferred to remain 
in Siberia. 


38 * 



450 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1792—1817. 


inspected by the governor, notifying the ambassador’s arrival, and 
the health of his company. Nor were the Dutch allowed, in passing, 
even to return the salutation of the Russians. The Dutch captain put 
his trumpet to his lips, but was under strict orders from the direc¬ 
tor not to speak a word — a discourtesy, as they thought it, which 
the Russians highly resented. Of the Russians, none were allowed 
to land till two months and a half after their arrival, the matter 
having first been referred to Jedo. Finally, a fish-house, on a 
small island, closely hedged in with bamboos, so that nothing could 
be seen, was fitted up for the ambassador. All the arms were 
given up, except the swords of the officers and the muskets of seven 
soldiers who landed with the ambassador, but who had no powder. 
The ship was constantly surrounded by guard-boats. 

After a detention of near six months, a commissioner from Jedo 
made his appearance, with the emperor’s answer. The ambas¬ 
sador, having been carried on shore in the barge of the prince of 
Figen, was conveyed to the governor’s house in the norimon of the 
Dutch director, borrowed for the occasion ; but all his suite had to 
walk, and, in order that they might see nothing, the doors and 
windows of the houses, wherever they passed, were closed; the 
street gates were fastened, and the inhabitants were ordered to keep 
at home. A second interview took place the next day, when a fiat 
refusal was returned to all the ambassador’s requests, and even the 
presents for the emperor were declined. 

In the midst of all these annoyances everything was done with 
the greatest show of politeness. The emperor’s answer, which 
Doeff was called upon to assist in translating into Dutch, placed 
the refusal to receive the ambassador or his presents on the ground 
that, if they were received, it would be necessary to send back an 
ambassador with equal presents, to which not only the great poverty 
of the Japanese was an obstacle, but also the strict law, in force for 
a hundred and fifty years past, against any Japanese subject or 
vessel going to foreign countries. It was also stated that Japan 
had no great wants, and little occasion for foreign productions, of 
which the Dutch and Chinese already brought as much m was 
required, and that any considerable trade could only be est^fblished 
by means of an intercourse between foreigners and Japanese, which 
the laws strictly forbade. 



doeff’s journey to jedo. 


451 


The ambassador did not depart without bitter reproaches against 
Doeff, whom he charged as the author of his miscarriage. He ar¬ 
rived at Okhotsk in May, 1805, afterwards passed over to Sitka, on 
the American coast, and the next year, having returned again to 
Okhotsk, despatched two small Russian vessels to make reprisals on 
the Japanese. They landed on the coast of Sagaleen, in the years 
1806 and 1807, plundered a Japanese settlement, loaded their 
vessels with the booty, carried off several Kurile and two Japanese 
prisoners, and left behind written notifications, in Russian and 
French, that this had been done in revenge for the slights put upon 
Resanoff. 

In 1805 and 1806, Klaproth, the learned Orientalist, passed 
some months at Irkutsk, as secretary to a Russian embassy to 
China. He found the Japanese professorship, established there by 
Catherine II., filled by a Japanese, who had embraced the Creek 
religion, and, from him and the books which he furnished, Klaproth 
acquired such knowledge as he had of the Japanese tongue. 

In the spring of 1806, Doeff made his first journey to Jedo. In 
the arrangements of the journey and the audience, there seems to 
to have been no change since the time of Thunberg. While he was 
at Jedo a tremendous fire broke out. It began, at a distance from 
his lodgings, at ten in the morning. At one the Dutch took the 
alarm, and began to pack. At three they fled. “ On issuing into 
the street,” says Doeff, “ we saw everything in flames. There was 
great danger in endeavoring to escape before the wind, in the same 
direction taken by the fire. We, therefore, took a slanting direction, 
through a street already burning, and thus succeeded in reaching 
an open field. It was studded with the standards of princes, whose 
dwellings had been destroyed, and whose wives and children had 
fled thither for refuge. We followed their example, and marked 
out a spot with our Dutch flags. We had now a full view of the 
Are, and never did I see anything so terrific. The terrors of this 
ocean of flame were enhanced by the heart-rending cries of the 
fligitive women and children.” The fire raged till noon the next 
day, when it was extinguished by a fall of rain.* The Dutch 

* Golownin was informed, during his captivity at Matsmai, that it is part 
of the duty of the Japanese soldiers to assist in extinguishing fires, for which 
purpose they are provided with a fireman’s dress of varnished leather. To 



452 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1792—1817. 


learned from their host, that, within five minutes after they left, 
the fire took his house, and destroyed everything — as an indemnity 
for which, the Dutch East India Company allowed him annually, 
for three years, from twelve to fourteen hundred weight of sugar. 
The palaces of thirty-seven princes had been destroyed. The 
weight of fugitives broke down the famous Niponbas, or bridge of 
Japan, so that, besides those burned to death, many were drowned, 
including a daughter of the prince of Awa. Twelve hundred lives 
were said to have been lost. 

On this occasion the Dutch were greatly aided by a wealthy 
Japanese merchant, who sent forty men to assist them in removing. 
He lost his shop, or store, and a warehouse, containing a hundred 
thousand pounds of spun silk, yet the day after the fire was en¬ 
gaged in rebuilding his premises. 

The Dutch, burnt out of their inn, were lodged at first in the 
house of the governor of Nagasaki; but, four days after, procured a 
new inn. This was in a more public place thap the old obscure 
lodging. The appearance of the Dutch on the balcony attracted 
crowds of curious spectators, and soon drew out an order, from the 
governor of Jedo, that they should keep within doors. But Doeff 
refused to obey this order, on the ground that, during their entire 
embassy, the Dutch were under the authority only of the governor 
of Nagasaki; and in this position he was sustained by that per¬ 
sonage. 

After the audience the Dutch received many visits, particularly 
from physicians and astronomers. On the subject of astronomy 
Doeff was more puzzled than even Thunberg had been, for, since 
Thunberg’s time, the Japanese would seem to have made consider¬ 
able advances in that science. They had a translation of La Lande’s 
astronomy, and the chief astronomer, Takaro Sampei (to whom, 
Doeff, at his special request for a name, gave that of Globius, and who 
proved, on subsequent occasions, a good friend of the Dutch), could 
calculate eclipses with much precision. To a grandson of one of 
Thunberg’s medical friends, who was also a physician, Doeff gave 

extinguish a fire is stated to be considered a glorious achievement But, 
though fire is almost the only element the Japanese soldiers have to contend 
with, they do not seem to be very expert at subduing it. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 


453 


the name of Johannis Botanicus. The honor of a Dutch name, ex¬ 
ceedingly coveted by the Japanese, was solicited even by the prince 
of Satzuma and his secretary. Being attacked with colic on his re¬ 
turn from Jedo, Doeflf submitted to the Japanese remedy of acu¬ 
puncture ; but he does not give any high idea of its efficacy. 

Two accounts current of the trade of Japan for the years 1804 
and 1806, published by Raffles, will serve to show its condition at 
this time. The articles sent to Japan were sugar, spices, woollens, 
cottons, tin, lead, quicksilver, sapan-wood, saffron, liquorice, ele- 
phant’s-teeth, catechu, and ducatoons, sugar forming about half the 
cargo in value. The prime cost at Batavia was, in 1804, 211,896, 
in 1806, 161,008 rix dollars, to which were to be added freight 
and charges at Batavia, amounting in 1804 to 150,000, in 1806 to 
106,244 rix dollars, making the whole cost in 1804, 361,807, in 
1806, 266,252 rix dollars. The sales at Desima amounted in 
1804 to 160,378, in 1806 to 108,797 rix dollars; but this in¬ 
cluded, in 1804, 3,333 rix dollars from old goods, and, in 1806, 
5,428 rix dollars borrowed of the Japanese to complete the cargo. 
From these amounts were to be deducted the expenses of the estab¬ 
lishment at Desima, and loss in weight on the sugar, viz., in 1804, 
67,952,* and in 1806, 39,625 rix dollars, leaving to be employed 
in the purchase of copper and camphor, in 1804, 92,426, in 1806, 
69,172 rix dollars, to which were added 13,125 rix dollars from the 
sale of old goods. The copper brought back by the ship of 1804 
having been coined at Batavia, the entire profit of the voyage 
amounted to 507,147 rix dollars, but the larger part of this profit 
belonged, in fact, to the mint, the copper being coined at a rate 
above its intrinsic value. In 1808, the copper being sold, the 
balance in favor of the voyage was but 175,505 rix dollars, deduct¬ 
ing the amount borrowed in Japan. It was only the low rate at 
which copper was furnished by the Japanese government that en¬ 
abled these voyages to pay. 

In 1807, the Eclipse, of Boston, chartered at Canton by the 
Russian American Company, for Kamtchatka and the north-west 
coast of America, entered the bay of Nagasaki under Russian 

♦ The expenses of the visit to Jedo, in 1804, were sixteen thousand six 
hundred and sixty-six rix dollars. 



454 


JAPAN.—A. D. 17y2—1817. 


colors,* and was towed to the anchorage by an immense number of 
boats. A Dutchman came on board, and advised them to haul 
down their colors, as the Japanese were much displeased with 
Russia. The Japanese declined to trade, and asked what the ship 
wanted. Being told water and fresh provisions, they sent on board 
a plentiful supply of fish, hogs, vegetables, and tubs of water, for 
which they would take no pay. Finding that no trade was to be 
had, on the third day the captain lifted his anchors, and was towed 
to sea by near a hundred boats. 

In October, 1808, about the time that the annual Dutch vessel 
was expected, a ship appeared off Nagasaki, under Dutch colors, 
and, without any suspicion, two Dutchmen of the factory, followed 
by the usual Japanese officers in another boat, proceeded to board 
her. The Dutchmen were met by a boat from the vessel, and were 
requested in Dutch to come into it. Upon their proposal to wait 
for the Japanese boat, the strangers boarded them with drawn cut¬ 
lasses, and forced them on board the ship, which proved to be the 
English frigate Phaeton, Captain Pellew. The Japanese rowed back 
with the news of what had happened, by which Nagasaki and all 
its officers were thrown into a state of the greatest agitation. 

While the governor of Nagasaki was exchanging messages with 
director Doeff, as to what could be the meaning of this occurrence, 
Captain Pellew, who was in search of the annual Dutch ship, stood 
directly into the harbor, without a pilot. The director, fearing to 
be himself taken, fled, with the other Dutchmen, to the govern¬ 
or’s house. “ In the town,” he says, “ everything was in frightful 
embarrassment and confusion. The governor was in a state of in¬ 
describable wrath, which fell, in the first instance, upon the Japan- 
ese officers, for having returned without the Dutchmen, or infor¬ 
mation as to what nation the ship belonged to. Before I could 
ask him a question, he said to me, with fury in his face, ‘ Be 
quiet, director; I shall take care that your people are restored.’ 
But the governor soon learned, to his consternation, that at the 
harbor guard-house, where a thousand men ought to have been 

* See “ A Voyage Bound the World,” by Archibald Campbell, a Scotch¬ 
man, who served as a common sailor on board this ship. Doeff also mentions 
her arrival. 



THE FRIGATE PHAETON. 


455 


stationed, there were only sixty or seventy, and these uncom¬ 
manded.” 

After a while came a letter from one of the detained Dutchmen, 
in these words: “ A ship is arrived from Bengal. The captain’s 
name is Pellew ; he asks for water and provisions.” The governor 
was little disposed to yield to this demand, and, about midnight, 
his secretary waited on Doeff to inform him that he was going to 
rescue the prisoners. Being questioned as to the manner how, he 
replied, “Your countrymen have been seized by treachery; I shall, 
therefore, go alone, obtain admission on board by every demonstra¬ 
tion of friendship, seek an interview with the captain, and, on his 
refusal to deliver his prisoners, stab him first, and then myself.” 
It cost Doeff a good deal of trouble to dissuade the secretary and 
the governor from this wild scheme. The plan finally adopted was 
to manage to detain the ship till vessels and men could be collected 
to attack her. 

The next afternoon one of the detained Dutchmen brought on 
shore the following epistle from the English captain: “I have 
ordered my own boat to set Goseman on shore, to procure me pro¬ 
visions and water ; if he does not return with such before evening, 
I will sail in to-morrow early, and burn the Japanese and Chinese 
vessels in the harbor.” The provisions and water were furnished, 
though the Japanese were very unwilling to have Goseman return 
on board. This done, the two Dutchmen were dismissed. 

The governor, however, was still intent upon calling the foreign 
ship to account. One scheme was to prevent her departure by 
sinking vessels, laden with stones, in the channel. The prince of 
Omura proposed to burn her, by means of boats, filled with reeds 
and straw, offering himself to lead; but while these schemes were 
under discussion, the frigate weighed and sailed out of the harbor. 
The affair, however, had a tragical ending. Within half an hour 
after her departure, the governor, to save himself from impending 
disgrace, cut himself open, as did several officers of the harbor- 
guard. The prince of Eizen, though resident at Jedo at the time, 
was imprisoned a hundred days, for the negligence of his servants 
in the maintenance of the guard, and he was also required to pay 
an annual pension to the son of the self-executed governor, whom 



456 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1792—1817. 


Doeflf, on again visiting Jedo in 1810, found to be in high favor at 
court. 

Up to 1809,* the ships from Batavia had arrived regularly; but 
from that time till 1813 neither goods nor news reached the lonely 
Dutchmen at Desima. The first and second failure they bore with 
some resignation, looking confidently forward to the next year; 
“ but, alas! ” says our by this time very thirsty, and somewhat 
ragged, director, “ it passed away without relief or intelligence, 
either from Europe or Batavia ! All our provision from Java was 
by this time consumed. Butter we had not seen since the supply 
of 1807, for the ship Goede Frouw” [good wife, but not good house¬ 
wife] “had brought us none in 1809. To the honor of the Jap¬ 
anese, I must acknowledge that they did everything in their power 
to supply our special wants. . . . The inspector, Sige DeTiozen^ 
among others, gave himself much trouble to distil gin for us, for 
which purpose I supplied him with a still-kettle and a tin worm, 
which I chanced to possess. He had tolerable success, but could 
not remove the resinous flavor of the juniper. The corn spirit (whis¬ 
key), which he managed to distil, was excellent. As we had also 
been without wine since the supply of 1807, with the exception of 
a small quantity brought by the Goede Frouw, he likewise endeav¬ 
ored to press it for us from the wild grapes of the country, but 
with less success. He obtained, indeed, a red and fermented 
liquor, but it was not wine. I myself endeavored to make beer ; 
and, with the help of the domestic dictionaries of Chaud and Bays, 
I got so far as to produce a whitish liquor, with something of the 
flavor of the white beer of Haerlem, but which would not keep 
above four days, as I could not make it work sufficiently, and had 
no bitter with which to flavor it. Our great deficiency was in the 
articles of shoes and winter clothing. We procured Japanese slip¬ 
pers of straw, and covered the instep with undressed leather, and 
thus draggled along the street. Long breeches we manufactured 

* Tlie sliips of 1799,1800,1801,1802 and 1803, had been Americans. The 
renewal of the war in Europe having again driven the Dutch flag from the 
ocean, the ships of 1806 had been an American and a Bremener ; and those 
of 1807 an American and a Dane ; one of the ships of 1809 was also an Amer¬ 
ican, the Rebecca. 




ENGLISH ATTEMPT ON DESIMA. 


457 


from an old carpet which I had by me. Thus we provided for our 
wants as well as we could. There was no distinction among us. 
Every one who had saved anything, threw it into the common stock, 
and we thus lived under a literal community of goods.” 

Great was the delight of our disconsolate director, when, in the 
spring of 1813, two vessels appeared in the offing of Nagasaki, dis¬ 
playing the Dutch flag, and making the private signals agreed upon 
in 1809. A letter was brought on shore, announcing the arrival 
from Batavia of Heer Waardenaar, Doefl’s predecessor as director, 
to act as warehouse master, of Heer Cassa, to succeed Doeft’ as 
director, and of three assistants or clerks. A Japanese officer and 
one of the Dutch clerks were sent on board. The Japanese speedily 
returned, saying that he had recognized Waardenaar, who had de¬ 
clined, however, to deliver his papers except to Doeff personally, and 
that all the officers spoke English, whence he concluded that the 
ships must be chartered Americans. DoeflF went on board, and was 
received by Waardenaar with such evident embarrassment, that Doeft 
declined to open the package of papers which he presented, except 
at Desima, whither he was accompanied by Waardenaar. This 
package being opened was found to contain a paper signed “ Baffles, 
Lieutenant-governor of Java and its Dependencies,” appointing 
Waardenaar and a Dr. Ainslie commissioners in Japan. In reply 
to his question, “Who is Baffles?” Doeff learned that Holland had 
been annexed to France, and Java occupied by the English. But 
the annexation of Holland to France, Doeff patriotically refused to 
believe, and, in spite of all the efforts of Waardenaar to shake his 
resolution, he declined obedience to an order coming from a colony 
in hostile occupation. 

His mind thus made up, Doeff’ called in the Japanese interpreters, 
and communicated to them the true state of the case. Alarmed for 
their own safety, they made to Waardenaar frightful representa¬ 
tions of the probable massacre of the crews and burning of the ves¬ 
sels, should this secret go any further, — especially considering the 
hostile feelings’ towards the English, excited by the proceedings of 
the Phaeton in 1808 ; and finally the commissioners were persuaded 
to enter into an arrangement by which Doeff was to remain as direc¬ 
tor, and was to proceed to dispose of the cargoes as usual, first pay¬ 
ing out of the proceeds the debt which, since 1807, the factory had 
39 



458 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1792-1817. 


been obliged to contract for its sustenance. Ainslie was also to 
remain as factory physician, but passing as an American.* 

The cost of the cargoes, as given by Raffles, with freight and 
charges, amounted to t-rvo hundred and seventy-three thousand one 
hundred and fifty Spanish dollars. Out of the proceeds in Japan 
had to be paid forty-eight thousand six hundred and forty-eight 
dollars, debts of the factory; and twenty-five thousand dollars for 
copper to make up the cargo, bought of DoeflF at a higher rate than 
was paid the Japanese. There were left at the factory four thou¬ 
sand six hundred and eighty-eight dollars in cash, and fifteen thou¬ 
sand dollars in woollens, and advances were made to persons on 
board, to be repaid in Batavia, to the amount of three thousand six 
hundred and seventy-eight dollars; thus swelling the whole expenses 
to three hundred and seventy thousand one hundred and sixty-four 
dollars ; whereas the copper and camphor of the return cargo, pro¬ 
duced only three hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred and 
twenty-six dollars, thus leaving an outgo on the voyage of twenty- 
eight thousand and thirty-eight dollars, which the credits in Japan 
and Batavia were hardly sufficient to balance. These ships carried 
out an elephant as a present to the emperor; but, though it excited 
great curiosity, the Japanese declined to receive it, alleging the dif¬ 
ficulty of transporting it to Jedo. 

In 1814, a single ship was sent from Batavia with Heer Cassa 
again on board. He brought tidings of the insurrection in Europe 
against France, and relied upon the probable speedy restoration of 
Java, as an argument for inducing Doeff to submit temporarily to 
the English,—an object which Sir Stamford Raffles had very much 
at heart. When Doeff refused, Cassa resorted to intrigue. He 
gained over two of the interpreters, through whom he endeavored 
to induce at Jedo a refusal to allow Doeff (whose term of office had 
already been so unusually protracted) to remain any longer as 

* This is Doeff’s account, but, according to Golownin, at that time a pris¬ 
oner in the north of Japan (see next chapter), and Ayho learnt from the Jap¬ 
anese the arrival of the two vessels above mentioned, he communicated to the 
Japanese the fact of the capture of Batavia by the English ; which fact, it 
was afterwards reported to him, the Dutch had confessed. Raffles also, in 
his memoirs, in speaking of Ainslie and his good treatment by the Japanese, 
clearly implies that he was known to be English. 



DUTCH-JAPANESE CHILDREN. 


459 


director. Doeff, however, got wind of this intrigue, frightened the 
two interpreters by threatening to tell the whole story to the gov¬ 
ernor of Nagasaki, and finally carried the day. He paid, however, 
rather dearly for his obstinacy, as Raffles sent no more ships, and 
director Doefif was obliged to pass three years more without either 
goods or news, cooped up and kept on short allowance in his little 
island, with, the satisfaction, however, that there, if nowhere else in 
the world, the flag of Holland still continued to wave. 

The Japanese government, obliged to advance the means for the 
support of the factory, did not leave the director entirely idle. He 
was set to work, with the aid of ten Japanese interpreters, in com¬ 
piling a Japanese and Dutch dictionary, for the use of the Japanese 
men of science and the imperial interpreters. A copy of this work 
was deposited in the imperial library at Jedo; another, made by 
Doeff for his own use, was lost, with all his other papers and effects, 
on his return to Europe. The original rough draft of the work 
was f und afterwards, however, at Desima, by Herr Fisscher, and 
having made a transcript, though less perfect than the original, he 
brought it home in 1829, and deposited it in the royal museum at 
Amsterdam.* 

Thunberg, as we have seen, could hear nothing of semi-Dutch 
children born in Japan. There were such, however, in Doeff’s 
time; and it appears, from an incidental remark of his, that although 
no birth was allowed to take place at Desima, yet that the Japanese 
female inmates of the factory were permitted to nurse their infants 
in the houses of their Dutch fathers. At a very early age, how¬ 
ever, these children were taken away to be educated as pure Jap¬ 
anese, being allowed to visit their fathers only at certain specified 
intervals. The fathers, however, were expected to provide for them, 
and to obtain for them, by purchase, some government office. 

* Mr. Medhurst, English missionary at Batavia, who has published an 
English and Japanese vocabulai*y, enumerates, in a letter written in 1827, 
as among his helps to the knowledge of the language, besides five different 
Japanese and Chinese dictionaries, a Dutch, Japanese and Chinese one, in 
two thick 8vo volumes ; also a corresponding one in Japanese, Chinese and 
Dutch. These were printed in Japan, and were, perhaps, fruits of Doeff’s 
labors. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 


GOLOWNIn’s CAPTUKE and imprisonment. — CONVEYANCE TO IIAKODADE. — 

RECEPTION AND IMPRISONMENT.-INTERPRETERS.—INTERVIEWS AVITH THE 

GOVERNOR. — REMOVAL TO MAT3MAI. — A PUPIL IN RUSSIAN. — A JAPANESE 

ASTRONOMER. — ESCAPE AND RECAPTURE, - TREATMENT AFTERWARDS. - 

SAVANS FROM JEDO.-JAPANESE SCIENCE.-EUROPEAN NKAVS. — A JAP¬ 

ANESE FREE-THINKER.—SOLDIERS.—THEIR AMUSEMENTS.—THOUGHTS ON 

A WEDDING. — DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS.-NEW YEAR.-RETURN OF THE 

DIANA. -REPRISALS. -.A JAPANESE MERCHANT AND HIS FEMALE FRIEND. 

-SECOND RETURN OF THE DIANA.-THIRD RETURN OF THE DIANA.- 

INTERVIEW ON SHORE. - SURRENDER OF THE PRISONERS. - JAPANESE 

NOTIFICATION. — THE MERCHANT AT HO.ME. — THE MERCANTILE CL.4SS IN 
JAPAN.-A. D. 1811—1813. 

WniLE, by the first interruption of the communication with Bata¬ 
via, Doeflf and his companions were secluded at Desima, a number 
of Europeans were held in a still stricter imprisonment at the 
northern extremity of Japan. 

Captain Golownin, an educated and intelligent Russian naval 
officer, had been commissioned in 1811, as commander of the sloop 
of war Diana, to survey the southern Kurile Islands, in which 
group the Russians include both Sagaleen and Jeso, which they 
reckon as the twenty-first and twenty-second Kuriles. At the 
southern extremity of Etorpoo, the nineteenth Kurile, some Jap¬ 
anese were first met with (July 18). Soon after, Golownin, with 
two officers, four men and a Kurile interpreter, having landed at a 
bay on the southern end of Kunashir, the twentieth Kurile, where 
the Japanese had a settlement and a garrison, they were invited 
into the fort, and made prisoners. Thence they were taken, partly 
by water and partly by land, to Hakodade, already mentioned as a 
Japanese town at the southern extremity of Jeso. This journey 
occupied four weeks, in which, by Golownin’s calculation, they 


EAST COAST OF JESO. 


461 


travelled between six and seven hundred miles. The Japanese 
stated it at two hundred and fifty-five of their leagues. The route 
followed was along the east coast of the island. Every two miles 
or so there was a populous village, from all' of which extensive fish¬ 
eries were carried on, evidently the great business of the inhabit¬ 
ants. The fish were caught in great nets, hundreds at once. The 
best were of the salmon species, but every kind of marine animal 
was eaten. The gathering of seaweeds for food (of the kind called 
by the Russians sea-cabbage*) also Constituted a considerable 
branch of industry. In the northern villages the inhabitants were 
principally native Kuriles, with a few Japanese officers. Within a 
hundred and twenty or thirty miles of Hakodade the villages were 
inhabited entirely by Japanese, and were much larger and hand¬ 
somer than those further north, having gardens and orchards, and 
distinguished by their scrupulous neatness; but even the Kurile 
inhabitants of Jeso were far superior in civilization and comforts to 
those of the more northern islands belonging to Russia. 

When first seized by the Japanese, the Russians -were bound with 
cords, some about the thickness of a finger, and others still smaller. 
They were all tied exactly alike (according to the prescribed method 
for binding those arrested bn criminal charges), the cords for each 
having the same number of knots and nooses, and all at equal dis¬ 
tances. There were loops round their breasts and necks ; their 
elbows were drawn almost into contact behind their backs, and 
their hands were firmly bound together. From these fastenings 
proceeded a long cord, the end of which was held by a Japanese, 
who, on the slightest attempt to escape, had only to pull it to make 
the elbows come in contact with great pain, and so to tighten the 
noose about the neck as almost to produce strangulation. Their 
legs were also tied together above the ankles and above the knees. 
Thus tied, they were conveyed all the way to Hakodade, having 
the choice, for the land part of the route, either to be carried in a 
rude sort of palanquin fonned of planks, on which they were obliged 
to lie flat, or to walk, which they generally preferred as less irksome, 

♦ The English translator of Golownin’s narrative mentions a species of 
seaweed collected for eating, on the northern coast of Scotland and Ireland, 
and there called dhulishy or when boiled, sloak^ and which he says answers 
exactly to Thunberg’s description of the edible fuous of the Japanese. 

89 * 



462 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


and for which purpose the cords about the ankles were removed, and 
those above the knees loosened. The cords were drawn so tight as 
to be very painful, and even after a while to cut into the flesh ; yet, 
though in all other respects the Japanese seemed inclined to consult 
the comfort of the prisoners, they would not for the first six or seven 
days, be induced to loosen them, of which the chief reason turned 
out to be their apprehension lest the prisoners might commit suicide, 
— that being the Japanese resource under such extremities. 

Their escort consisted of from one hundred and fifty to two hun¬ 
dred men. Two Japanese guides from the neighboring villages, 
changed at each new district, led the way, bearing handsomely- 
carved staves. Then came three soldiers, then Captain Golownin 
with a soldier on one side, and on the other an attendant wdth a 
twig to drive off the gnats, which were troublesome, and against 
which his bound hands prevented him from defending himself. 
Behind came an ofiicer holding the ends of the ropes by which the 
prisoner was bound, then a party of Kuriles, bearing his kango, 
followed by another relief party. The other captives followed, one 
by one, escorted in the same manner. Finally came three soldiers, 
and a number of Japanese and Kurile servants carrying provisions 
and baggage. Each of the escort had a wooden tablet, suspended 
from his girdle, on which were inscribed his duties and which pris¬ 
oner he was stationed with ; and the commanding officer had a cor¬ 
responding list of the whole. The prisoners had the same fare with 
the escort, — three meals a day, generally-of rice boiled to a thick 
gruel, two pieces of pickled radish* for seasoning, soup made of 
radishes or various wild roots and herbs, a kind of macaroni, and a 
piece of broiled or boiled fish. Sometimes they had stewed mush¬ 
rooms, and each a hard-boiled egg. Their general drink was very 
indiflerent tea, without sugar, and sometimes saki. Their conduc¬ 
tors frequently stopped at the villages to rest, or to drink tea and 
smoke tobacco, and they also rested for an hour after dinner. They 

* “ The Japanese radisli,” says Golownin, “is in form and taste very 
different from ours. It is thin and extremely long. The taste is not very 
acrid, but sweetish, almost like our turnips. AVhole fields are covered with 
it. A great part of the crop is salted, the remainder is buried in the ground 
for winter, and boiled in soup. Not even the radish-leaves remain unused ; 
they are boiled in soup or salted and eaten as salad. They manure the radish- 
fields with night-soil ; this we ourselves saw at Matsniai.” 




GOLOWNIN AT HAKODADE. 


463 


halted for the night an hour or two before sunset, usually in a village 
with a small garrison. They were always conducted first to the 
front of the house of the officer in command, and were seated on 
benches covered with mats, when the officer came out to inspect 
them. They were then taken to a neat house (which generally, 
when they first entered, was hung round with striped cotton cloth), 
and were placed together in one apartment, the ends of their ropes 
being fastened to iron hooks in the walls. Their boots and stock¬ 
ings were pulled olf, and their feet bathed in warm water with salt 
in it. For bedding they had the Japanese mattresses— quilts with 
a thick wadding — folded double. 

After the first six or seven days their bonds were loosened, and 
they got on more comfortably. The Japanese took the greatest 
care of their health, not allowing them to wet their feet, carrying 
them across the shallowest streams, and furnishing them with 
quilted Japanese gowns as a protection against the rain. 

At Hakodade they were received by a great crowd, among 
which were several persons with silk dresses mounted on horses 
with rich caparisons. “ Both sides of the road,” says Golownin, 
“ were crowded with spectators, yet every one behaved with the 
utmost decorum. I particularly marked their countenances, and 
never once observed a malicious look, or any sign of hatred tow¬ 
ards us, and none showed the least disposition to insult us by mock¬ 
ery or derision.” He had observed the same thing in the villages 
through which they had passed, where the prisoners had received, 
as they did afterwards, from numerous individuals, many touching 
instances of commiseration and sympathy. 

At Hakodade they were confined in a prison, a high wooden 
enclosure, or fence, surrounded by an earthen wajl somewhat lower, 
(and on their first approach to it hung with striped cloth),* inside 
of which was a long, barn-like building. Within this building were 
a number of small apartments, scarcely six feet square, formed of 
thick spars, and exactly like cages, in which the prisoners were 

* The fort on the island where they were taken prisoners, when first seen 
from the sliip, was hung round with striped cloths, which concealed the 
walls. These cloths had embrasures painted on them, but in so rough a 
manner that the deception could be perceived at a considerable distance. 



464 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1811—1813. 


shut up, the passages and other spaces being occupied by the 
guards.* Their food was much worse than on the journey, (proba¬ 
bly Japanese prison fare), boiled rice, soup of warm water and 
grated radish, a handful of finely-chopped young onions with boiled 
beans, and one or two pickled cucumbers or radishes. Instead of 
the radish-soup, puddings of bean-meal and rancid fish-oil were 
sometimes served. Very rarely they had half a fish, with soy. Their 
drink was warm water, and occasionally bad tea. 

Their only means of communicating with the Japanese had been, 
at first, a Kurile, one of the prisoners, who knew a little Russian, 
and probably about as much Japanese. At Hakodade another 
interpreter presented himself; but he, a man of fifty, naturally 
stupid, and knowing nothing of any European language, except a 
little Russian, did not prove much better. 

The second day they were conducted through the streets, by a 
guard of soldiers (the prisoners each with a rope round his waist 
held by a Japanese), to a fort or castle, which was surrounded 
by palisades and an earthen wall. Within was a court-yard, in the 
centre of which was a brass cannon on a badly-constructed carriage. 
Erom this court-yard Golownin, and after him each of the others, 
was conducted through a wide gate, which was immediately shut 
behind them, into a large hall, of which half had a pavement of 
small stones. The other half had a floor, or platform, raised three 
feet from the ground, and covered with curiously-wrought mats. 
The hall was fifty or sixty feet long, of equal breadth, eighteen feet 
high, and divided by movable screens, neatly painted, from other 
adjoining rooms. There were two or three apertures for windows, 
with paper instead of glass, admitting an obscure, gloomy light. 
The governor sat^gn the floor, in the middle of the elevated platform, 
with two secretaries behind him. On his left (the Japanese place 
of honor) was the next in command; on his right, another officer; 
on each side of these, other officers of inferior rank. They all sat, 
in the Japanese fashion, with their legs folded under them, two 
paces apart, clothed in black dresses, their short swords in their 
girdles, and their longer ones lying at their left. The new inter- 

♦ The description of this prison corresponds very well to Kampfer’s de¬ 
scription of the one at Nagasaki. 



OFFICIAL EXAMINATIONS. 


465 


preter sat on the edge of the raised floor, and an inferior ofllicer at 
each of the corners of it. On the walls huno; irons for securing 
prisoners, ropes, and various instruments of punishment. The llus- 
sian prisoners stood in front of the raised floor, the ofiicers in a 
line, the sailors behind. The Kurile was seated on the stones. They 
underwent a very rigorous and particular examination, all their 
answers being written down. The questions related to their birth¬ 
places ; their families (and when it appeared that they came from 
difl'erent towns, how it happened that they served on board the same 
ship); the burden and force of their vessel; their own rank; their 
ooject; their route since leaving St. Petersburg, which they were 
required to trace on a chart, &c., &c. 

Among other tilings, the governor remarked that Laxman (who 
had visited Japan in 1792) wore a long tail, and covered his hair 
with flour ; whereas the prisoners (powder and queues having gone 
out of fashion in the interval) had their hair cut short and unpow¬ 
dered ; and he asked if some change of religion had not taken place 
in Russia. When told that in Russia there was no connection 
between religion and the way of wearing the hair, the Japanese 
laughed, but expressed great surprise that there should not be some 
express law on the subject. 

Eighteen days after, they had a second examination, on which 
occasion a letter, of which the Japanese wanted an interpretation, 
was delivered to them. It had been sent on shore from their 
ship along with their baggage, expressing a determination to return 
to Okhotsk for reinforcements, and never to quit the coast of Japan 
till the prisoners were rescued. This reexamination was continued 
for two days, in which many inquiries were made about ChwostofT, 
and the papers he had left behind him, one of which was produced. 
The Russian prisoners tried to make out that the proceedings of 
ChwostofF were without authority from the Russian government; 
but the Japanese evidently did not believe them. 

After one or two more examinations they were removed to Mats- 
mai, guarded, as before, by soldiers, but furnished with horses, as 
well as litters or kangos, on or in which the prisoners were suffered 
to ride, the Japanese, however, retaining the end of a rope by which 
they were still bound. Near Matsmai, they were shown a bat¬ 
tery, on a high hill, intended to command the harbor, but ill adapted 



466 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


for that purpose. It had three or four small brass pieces on car¬ 
riages, and an eighteen or a twenty-four pounder, apparently cast in 
Europe, mounted on cross-beams. Matsmai lies on a large, open 
bay, with four fathoms of water at low tide; and, according to the 
Japanese, is about two hundred of their leagues (five hundred miles) 
from Jedo, the land journey thither, after crossing the strait, 
being made in twenty-three days. 

A great crowd collected to see them enter the town, ropes being 
stretched to keep the passage clear. Confined in a prison much 
like the one at Hakodade, and close under the ramparts of the cas¬ 
tle, they underwent many more examinations before the bugio or gov¬ 
ernor of Matsmai. The inquisitiveness of their questioners, which 
seemed to be without limit, proved a great torment to the Russians, 
and sometimes put them into a passion ; but the Japanese were always 
cool and polite. They were supplied with much better food than at 
Hakodade, fresh and salt fish, boiled or fried in poppy-seed oil, with 
soy for sauce. They also had, after the winter set in, flesh of sea- 
dogs, hares and bears, and attempts were even made to cook for 
them after the Russian flishion. For drink they had tea * and 
warm saki. They were furnished with warm clothing, both their 
own which had been sent on shore for them, and Japanese gowns, 
for which a tailor was sent to measure them; and, when the 
weather grew colder, they had hearths, after the Japanese fashion, 
made in the prison, at a little distance from each cage, on which 
charcoal fires were kept burning. A physician visited them daily 
to look after their health, and if anything serious appeared he 
brought a consulting physician with him. 

After a time their accommodations were much improved. In¬ 
stead of confinement in separate cages, they had a large room cov¬ 
ered with mats. A young man, named Teske, was now brought to 
them, whom they were requested to instruct in the Russian lan¬ 
guage. He proved a very apt scholar, made rapid progress, soon 

* The tea in common use, Golownin, like other travellers in Japan, ob¬ 
served to be of a very inferior quality. Green tea was used as a luxury on 
occasions of ceremony. Sugar was rare and costly, being brought from Ba¬ 
tavia by the Butch, and packed for retail in small baskets. Golownin saw 
also a very inferior kind, which he concluded to be of domestic manufac¬ 
ture. 



AN ESCAPE AND RECAPTURE. 


467 


learned to speak, read and write Russian, and became very muck 
attached to his instructors. They in their turn learned something 
of Japanese; but it was forbidden to teach them the written charac¬ 
ters. Teske was exceedingly anxious to collect statistical informa¬ 
tion concerning Russia. A Japanese man of science, who had an 
English sextant, a compass, a case of mathematical instruments, 
&c., also paid them a visit. He knew how to find the latitude by 
observing the sun’s altitude at noon, using in his calculations some 
tables obtained, as he said, from a Dutch book; and he was exceed¬ 
ingly anxious to gain additional information, especially how to find 
the longitude by lunar observations; but this, for want of the 
necessary tables, the Russians, much to his disgust, were unable to 
teach him. 

The first snow fell about the middle of October, but soon melted. 
The winter set in about the middle of November, with deep snows, 
which lasted till April. 

As the spring opened they were permitted to take walks and 
excursions in the vicinity of the town, and were presently removed 
to a house, composed of three apartments, separated by screens; 
but were still closely watched and guarded. Tired of this confine¬ 
ment, of which they could see no end, the Russians succeeded in 
getting out of their prison, and in gaining the mountains back of 
the town, whence they descended to the coast, hoping to find some 
means of escape by sea. Rut, after seven days’ wanderings and 
many sufferings, they were retaken. The island was found to be 
composed of steep hills, separated by precipitous ravines, with 
hardly any plain land, -except near the coast. The interior was 
uninhabited, except by wood-cutters employed in getting timber 
and preparing charcoal. 

When retaken they were confined in the common jail of the town, 
but their accommodations were not worse than they had been in the 
other two prisons. No ill will was shown towards them by any 
of the officials, not even by those whose lives their flight had endan¬ 
gered. The soldier who was held the most responsible for their 
escape, and who had been degraded in consequence to the rank of a 
common servant, showed even more alacrity than before in their 
behalf. In a month or two they were removed back to their 
former prison, where they were visited the next spring (1813) by 



468 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


an interpreter of the Dutch language, who had come from Jedo, 
and by a learned man from the same capital, who was indeed no 
other than DoelPs astronomer, Globius, but known to the Russians 
as Addati-Sonnai, both of whom desired to learn the Russian lan¬ 
guage. The interpreter, a young man of twenty-seven, and already 
acquainted with the rules of European grammar, made rapid prog¬ 
ress, and soon applied himself to translate a treatise on vaccina¬ 
tion, which one of the returned Japanese had brought from Russia. 
The astronomer busied himself in translating a Russian school 
treatise on arithmetic, carried to Japan by one of the Japanese 
conveyed home by Laxman in 1792. It was evident that he had 
considerable mathematical learning. The Japanese astronomers 
had made decided progress since the time of Thunberg. Globius 
understood the Copernican system, was acquainted with the orbit and 
satellites of Uranus; knew the nature and doctrine of signs and 
tangents, and was familiar with the difference between the old and 
new styles. He assured Golownin that the Japanese could calculate 
eclipses with much exactness, and he studied with great attention 
a treatise on physics, which, with other books, had been sent on 
shore in Golownin’s chest. 

Nor were the Japanese without knowledge of the revolutions going 
on in Europe. The Russians were told the news of the taking of 
Moscow, brought to Nagasaki by the two vessels from Batavia; but 
with patriotism equal to that shown by DoefF, in relation to the 
annexation of Holland to France, they refused to believe it. The 
Japanese gave them a minute description of these two vessels, and 
also of the elephant which they brought, his length, height, thick¬ 
ness, food, &c. A native of Sumatra, the keeper of the elephant, 
was described with equal minuteness. 

Teske, whom Golownin had taught Russian, was found to be quite 
a free-thinker, both in politics and religion ; but, in general, the 
Japanese seemed very superstitious, of which, presently, we shall 
see some instances. 

The soldiers Golownin observed to be of two classes, those of the 
local administration, and others whom he calls imperial soldiers, 
and who appear, by his description, to be precisely the same 
with those whom Kampfer describes under the name of Dosiu, or 
Dosen, as attached to the service of the governor of Nagasaki, and 





AMUSEMENTS. 


469 


indeed, this same name, in a modified form, is given to them by 
Golownin. They took precedence of the others, and were so hand¬ 
somely clothed and equipped as to be mistaken at first for ofiicers. 
The profession of arms, like most others in Japan, is hereditary. 
The arms of the soldiers, besides the two swords, were matchlocks, 
— which, when they fired, they placed, not against the shoulder, but 
the right cheek, — bows and arrows, and long pikes, heavy and in¬ 
convenient. 

They could all read, and spent much time in reading aloud, 
which they did much in the same droning, half-chanting tone in 
which the psalms are read at funerals in Russia. Great surprise 
was expressed that the Russian sailors were unable to read and 
write; and, also, that but one Russian book was found in the 
officer’s baggage, and that on much worse paper, and much worse 
bound, than those they had in French and other languages. It 
was shrewdly asked if the Russians did not know how to print 
books ? 

Playing at cards and draughts was a very common amusement. 
The cards were at first known to the Japanese by their European 
names, and were fifty-two in the pack. Owing, however, to the 
pecuniary losses — for the Japanese were great gamesters — and 
fatal disputes to which cards gave rise, they were strictly prohibited. 
But this law was evaded by the invention of a pack of forty-eight 
cards, much smaller than those of Europe. Their game at draughts 
was extremely difficult and complicated. They made use of a large 
board, and four hundred men, which they moved about in many 
directions, and which were liable to be taken in various ways. The 
Russian sailors played at draughts, in the European way, which 
the Japanese soon learned to imitate, so that the game, and the 
Russian terms employed in playing it, soon became familiar through¬ 
out the city of Matsmai. 

The following anecdote throws some light on Japanese domestic 
relations : “ Our interpreter, Kamaddshero [this was the first inter¬ 
preter], visited us the day after the marriage of his daughter, and, 
having mentioned the marriage, said that he had wept very much. 
‘ Wliy wept,’ said we, ‘ since on such occasions it is usual only to 
rejoice ? ’ ‘ Certainly,’ he answered, ‘ I should have rejoiced, were 

I but convinced that the man will love my daughter and make her 

40 



470 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1811-1813. 


happy; but, as the contrary often happens in the married state, a 
father who gives his daughter to a husband cannot be indifferent, 
for fear of future misfortunes.’ He spoke this with tears in his 
eyes, and in a voice which affected us.” 

Of the value which the Japanese put upon female society the 
following curious instance occurred. The prisoners’ meals were at 
one time superintended by an old officer of sixty, who was very 
civil, and frequently consoled them with assurances that they should 
be sent home. One day he brought them three portraits of Japan¬ 
ese ladies, richly dressed, which, after examining, they handed back; 
but the old man insisted they should keep them, and, when asked 
why, he observed that, when time hung heavy on their hands, they 
might console themselves by looking at them ! 

For the first fortnight of the new year all business was sus¬ 
pended. Nothing was thought of except visiting and feasting. In 
the latter half of the month the more industrious resumed their em¬ 
ployments. All who can, procure new clothes on this occasion, and 
the Japanese insisted upon furnishing their prisoners in the same 
way. “ Custom requires,” says Golownin, “ that each person should 
visit all his acquaintances in the place in which he resides, and send 
letters of congratulation to those who are at a distance. Our in¬ 
terpreters and guards were accordingly employed, for some days 
previous to the festival, in writing letters of that kind and visiting- 
cards. On the latter the names of the person from whom the card 
comes, and for whom it is intended, are written, and the opportu¬ 
nity by which it is presented is also noted. Teske translated for 
us one of his congratulatory letters, addressed to the officer at 
Kunashir by whom we had been entrapped, and which was to the 
following effect: “ Last year you were happy, and I greatly desire 
that that this new year you may enjoy good health, and experience 
happiness and prosperity in every undertaking'. I still respect you 
as formerly, and request that you will not forget me. Teske.” 

It is evident, from Golownin’s narrative, that the houses, furni¬ 
ture and domestic arrangements, at Matsmai, notwithstanding the 
coldness of the climate, differed in nothing from those in use in the 
more southerly islands. The Japanese, Golownin observed, were, 
compared with the Russians, very small eaters. They were also much 
more temperate in drinking, it being looked upon as disgraceful to 



CAPTAIN RIKORD. 


471 


be drunk in the day-time, or at any time, extraordinary festivities 
excepted. 

Late in the summer following the capture of Golownin and his 
companions, the Diana, now under the command of Captain Rikord, 
came back to Kunashir. Of the two Japanese seized by Chwostoff, 
one had died. The other, who called himself Leonsaima, Rikord 
had on board, along with six other Japanese, lately shipwrecked 
on Kamtschatka, hoping to exchange these seven for the seven 
Russians. On reaching the bay where Golownin had been taken, 
he saw a new battery of fourteen guns. All the buildings were 
covered with striped cloth, the boats were drawn up on the shore, 
and not a person appeared. 

Leonsaima, in his six years’ captivity, had learned some Russian, 
and he was employed to write a short letter from Captain Rikord 
to the commander on shore, stating his having brought back the 
seven Japanese, and requesting the restoration of his countrymen. 
From some circumstances, the good faith of Leonsaima was sus¬ 
pected, and the contents of the letter written by him rather dis¬ 
trusted ; still it was finally sent on shore by one of the Japanese, 
upon whom the batteries fired as he landed, and who returned no 
more. 

Three days after, a second Japanese was sent, with a written 
message in the Russian language; but he came back, saying that 
the governor had refused to receive it, and that he had been him¬ 
self thrust out of the castle. As a last resource, Leonsaima — who 
represented himself as a merchant, and a person of some conse¬ 
quence, though, in fact, he had been only a fishing agent —was sent 
on shore, with another Japanese, on his promise to return with 
such information as he could obtain. He did return, without the 
other, and stated that the Russians were all dead. Sent on shore 
to obtain in writing a confirmation of this verbal statement, he 
came back no more. 

Rikord now determined to seize any Japanese vessel that might 
be entering or leaving the harbor. A large Japanese ship soon 
appeared, from which, as the Russian boats approached her, several 
of her crew, of sixty men, jumped into the water. Nine were 
drowned, some escaped to the shore, and others were picked up by 
the Russian boats. The captain, who was taken on board the 




472 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1811—1813. 


Diana, appeared, from his rich yellow dress, his swords, and other 
circumstances, to be a person of distinction. Being interrogated in 
Japanese, of which Rikord had picked up a little from Leonsaima, 
he answered, with great frankness, that his name was Tachatay- 
Kachi,* that he was the owner of ten ships, and bound from Eetoo- 
roop (the nineteenth Kurile) to Hakodade, with a cargo of dried 
fish, but had been obliged by contrary winds to put into the bay of 
Kuna shir. 

Being shown the letter written by Leonsiama, he exclaimed, 
“ Captain Moort and five Russians are now in the city of Mats- 
mai.” This information was hardly credited, and Rikord finally 
resolved to convey his captive to Kamtschatka, hoping, in the 
course of the winter, to obtain through him some information re¬ 
specting the fate of the Russians, and the views of the Japanese 
government, especially as he seemed far superior to any of the 
Japanese with whom they had hitherto met, and, therefore, more 
likely to understand the policy of those who ruled in Japan. 

“ I informed him,” says Rikord, “ that he must hold himself in 
readiness to accompany me to Russia, and explained the circum¬ 
stances which compelled me to make such an arrangement. He 
understood me perfectly, and when I proceeded to state my belief 
that Captain Golownin, Mr. Moor, and the rest of the Russian 
prisoners, had been put to death, he suddenly interrupted me, ex¬ 
claiming, ‘ That is not true. Captain Moor and five Russians are 
living in Matsmai, where they are well treated, and enjoy the 
freedom of walking about the city, accompanied by two officers.’ 
When I intimated that we intended to take him with us, he replied, 
with astonishing coolness, ‘Well, I am ready;’ and merely re¬ 
quested that on our arrival in Russia he might continue to live 
with me. This I promised he should do, and likewise that I would 
carry him back to Japan in the ensuing year. He then seemed 
perfectly reconciled to his unlooked-for destiny. 

“ The four Japanese, who still remained on board the ship, un- 

* This is Rikord’s orthography. In the representation of the Japanese 
syllables given in the appendix it might probably be thus represented, 
Tahate-Kahi. 

t This was the name of one of Golownin’s fellow-prisoners, who had made 
himself quite famous among the Japanese by his skill as a draftsman. 



A JAPANESE MERCHANT. 


473 


derstood not a word of Russian, and were, besides, so afflicted with 
the scurvy,* that they would, in all probability, have perished had 
they wintered in Kamtschatka. I therefore thought it advisable 
to set them at liberty, and, having furnished them with every neces¬ 
sary, I ordered them to be put on shore, hoping that they would, 
in gratitude, give a good account of the Russians to their country¬ 
men.! In their stead, I determined to take four seamen from the 
Japanese vessel, who might be useful in attending on Tachatay- 
Kachi, to whom I left the choice of the individuals. He earnestly 
entreated that none of the seamen might be taken, observing that 
they were extremely stupid, and that he feared they would die of 
grief, owing to the dread they entertained of the Russians. The 
earnestness of his solicitations led me in some measure to doubt 
that our comrades were really living in Matsmai, and I repeated, 
in a decided manner, my determination to take four of the seamen. 
He then begged that I would accompany him to his ship. When 
he went on board, he assembled the whole of his crew in the cabin, 
and, having seated himself on a long cushion, which was placed on 
a fine mat, requested that I would take my place beside him. The 
sailors all knelt down [seated themselves on their heels ?] before us, 
and he delivered a long speech, in which he stated that it would be 
necessary for some of them to accompany us to Russia. 

“ Here a very affecting scene was exhibited. A number of the 
seamen approached him, with their heads bent downwards, and, 
with great eagerness, whispered something to him; their counte¬ 
nances were all bathed in tears; even Tachatay-Kachi, who had 
hitherto evinced calmness and resolution, seemed now to be deeply 
distressed, and began to weep. I for some time hesitated to carry 

♦ Golownin mentions the scurvy as a prevailing disease among the Japan¬ 
ese, perhaps occasioned by their thin diet. 

t These released Japanese were sent to Matsmai, and, after remaining 
about a week, were forwarded to Jedo. The shipwrecked men did not give, 
so Golownin was informed, a very favorable account of their entertainment 
in Kamtschatka. Leonsaima praised Irkutsk, but represented eastern Sibe¬ 
ria and Okhotsk as a miserable country, where scarce anybody was to be seen 
except beggars and government ofl&cers. He thought very meanly of the 
Russians, a few individuals exceptod. From their military spirit, even the 
boys in the street playing soldier, he thought they must meditate conquest, 
probably that of Japan. 



474 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


my resolution into effect, and was only induced to adhere to it by 
the consideration that I would hereafter have the opportunity of 
interrogating each individual separately, and, probably, thereby 
ascertaining whether or not our comrades were really alive in Mats- 
mai. I had, however, in other respects, no reason to repent of this 
determination, for the Japanese merchant, who was accustomed to 
live in a style of Asiatic luxury, would have experienced serious 
inconvenience on board our vessel without his Japanese attendants, 
two of whom were always, by turns, near his person. 

“ Tachatay-Kachi, and the sailors he selected, soon behaved as 
though our ship had been their own, and we, on our side, employed 
every means to convince them that we considered the Japanese, not 
as a hostile, but as a friendly nation, with whom our good under¬ 
standing was only accidentally interrupted. 

“ The same day we received on board, at my invitation, from 
the captured vessel, a Japanese lady, who had been the inseparable 
companion of Tachatay-Kachi on his voyage from Hakodade, his 
place of -residence, to Eetooroop. She was extremely desirous of 
seeing our ship, and the strange people and polite enemies, as she 
styled us, and to witness our friendly intercourse with her country¬ 
men. A Japanese lady was, also, to us no slight object of curiosity. 
When she came on board, she appeared very timid and embarrassed. 
I requested Tachatay-Kachi to conduct her into my cabin, and, as 
she advanced, I took her by the other hand. On reaching the 
cabin-door, she wished to take off her straw shoes; but, as there 
were neither mats nor carpets in my cabin, I explained to her, by 
signs, that this singular mark of politeness might be dispensed with 
among us. 

“ On entering the cabin, she placed both hands on her head, 
with the palms outwards, and saluted us by bending her body very 
low. I conducted her to a chair, and Kachi requested her to sit 
down. Fortunately for this unexpected visitor, there was on board 
our vessel a young and handsome woman, the wife of our surgeon’s 
mate. The Japanese lady seemed highly pleased on being intro¬ 
duced to her, and they quickly formed an intimacy. Our country¬ 
woman endeavored to entertain the foreigner with what the women 
of all countries delight in—she showed her her trinkets. Our visitor 
behaved with all the ease of a woman of fashion; she examined 




THE merchant’s LADY FRIEND. 


475 


the ornameats with great curiosity, and expressed her admiration 
by an agreeable smile. But the fair complexion of our country¬ 
woman seemed most of all to attract her attention. She passed her 
hands over the Russian woman’s face, as though she suspected it 
had been painted, and, with a smile, exclaimed, ‘ Yoe! yoe! ’ which 
signifies good. I observed that our visitor was somewhat vain of 
her new ornaments, and I held a looking-glass before her, that she 
might see how they became her. The Russian lady placed herself 
immediately behind her, in order to show her the difference of their 
complexions, when she immediately pushed the glass aside, and said, 

‘ Vare! vare! ’ — not good. She might herself have been called 
handsome ; her face was of the oval form, her features regular, and 
her little mouth, when open, disclosed a set of shining black lack¬ 
ered teeth. Her black eyebrows, which had the appearance of 
having been pencilled, overarched a pair of sparkling dark eyes, 
which were by no means deeply seated. Her hair was black, and 
rolled up in the form of a turban, without any ornament, except a 
few small tortoise-shell combs. She was about the middle size, and 
elegantly formed. Her dress consisted of six wadded silk garments, 
similar to our night-gowns, each fastened round the lower part of 
the waist by a separate band, and drawn close together from the 
girdle downwards. They were all of different colors, the outer one 
black. Her articulation was slow, and her voice soft. Her coun¬ 
tenance was expressive and interesting, and she was, altogether, 
calculated to make a very agreeable impression. She could not be 
older than eighteen. We entertained her with fine green tea and 
sweetmeats, of which she ate and drank moderately. On her taking 
leave, I made her some presents, with which she appeared to be 
much pleased. I hinted to our countrywoman that she should 
embrace her, and when the J apanese observed what was intended, 
she ran into her arms, and kissed her with a smile.” 

The Japanese merchant, at Rikord’s request, wrote a letter to 
the commander at Kunashir, detailing the state of affairs. No 
answer was returned, and when an attempt was made to land for 
water, the boats were fired upon, as was the Diana herself, when¬ 
ever she approached the shore; but the aim was so bad as to excite 
the derision of the Russians. 

During the winter passed in Kamtschatka, the Japanese mer- 



476 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


chant continued to gain in the good opinion of his captors, whose 
language he so far mastered as to be able to converse in it even on 
abstract subjects. He seemed to interest himself much in arrang¬ 
ing the misunderstanding between the Russian and Japanese gov¬ 
ernments, and expressed his wish, which he said was shared by 
others of his class, to see a commercial intercourse opened between 
the two nations ; and it was at his suggestion that Rikord sent to 
the governor of Irkutsk for a disavowal of the hostile acts of 
Chwostoflf. 

Kachi remained in good health and spirits till the middle of 
winter, when the death of two of his Japanese attendants greatly 
affected him. He became melancholy and peevish, asserted that he 
had the scurvy, and told the surgeon he should certainly die; but 
his real disorder was home-sickness, aggravated by apprehensions 
of being detained at Okhotsk, whither Rikord had intended to sail 
before proceeding to Japan, in order to get the disavowal above 
referred to. As Kachi’s assistance seemed essential, Rikord, fear¬ 
ing lest he might die, resolved to sail direct for Japan as soon as 
the vessel could be cut from the ice, — a resolution by which Ka¬ 
chi’s spirits were greatly raised. 

They arrived in Kunashir bay in June, 1813. The buildings 
were, as formerly, concealed by striped cotton cloth, but no guns 
were fired, and not a living being was to be seen. When the two 
Japanese sailors were about to be sent on shore, Rikord, somewhat 
excited at their master’s declining to pledge himself for their return, 
bade them say to the governor, that if he prevented them from re¬ 
turning, or sent back no information, their master should be carried 
to Okhotsk, whence some ships of war should immediately come to 
demand the liberation of the Russians. 

“At these words,” says Rikord, “ Takaytay-Kachi changed coun¬ 
tenance, but said, with much calmness, ‘ Commander of the imperial 
ship ’ — he always addressed me thus on important occasions — 
‘ thou counsellest rashly. Thy orders to the governor of Kunashir 
seem to contain much, but according to our laws they contain little. 
In vain dost thou threaten to carry me to Okhotsk ; my men may 
be detained on shore, but neither two, nor yet two thousand sailors 
can answer for me. Therefore I give thee previous notice that it 
will not be in thy power to take me to Okhotsk. But tell me 




KACHl’S RELEASE. 


477 


whether it be under these conditions only that my sailors are to be 
sent on shore? ’ ‘ Yes,’ said I; ‘ as commander of a ship of war, 

I cannot under these circumstances act otherwise.’ 

“ ‘ Well,’ replied he, ‘ allow me to give my sailors my last and 
most urgent instructions, as to what they must communicate from 
me to the governor of Kunashir.’ He then rose up — for during 
this conversation he sat, according to the Japanese custom, with his 
legs under him — and addressed me very earnestly in the following 
terms: ‘You know enough of Japanese to understand all that I 
may say in plain and easy words to my sailors. I would not wish 
you to have any ground to suspect me of hatching base designs.’ 
He then sat down again, when his sailors approached him on their 
knees, and hanging down their heads, listened with deep attention 
to his words. He reminded them circumstantially of the day on 
which they were carried on board the Diana, of the manner in 
which they had been treated on board that ship and in Kamt- 
schatka, of their having inhabited the same house with me, and 
being carefully provided for, of the death of their two countrymen, 
notwithstanding all the attention bestowed upon them by the Rus¬ 
sian physician, and, finally, that the ship had hastily returned to 
Japan on account of liis own health. All this he directed them 
faithfully to relate, and concluded with the warmest commendations 
of me, and earnest expressions of gratitude for the care that I had 
taken of him by sea and on land. He then sank into a deep silence 
and prayed, after which he delivered to the sailor whom he most 
esteemed, his picture to be conveyed to his wife, and his large sabre, 
which he called his paternal sword, to be presented to his only son 
and heir. This solemn ceremony being finished, he stood up, and 
with a frank and indeed very cheerful expression of countenance, 
asked for some brandy to treat his sailors at parting. He drank 
with them, and accompanied them on deck, when they were landed, 
and proceeded without interruption towards the fortress.” 

Rikord was a good deal troubled and alarmed at the air and 
manner of Kaohi; and finally, after consulting with his officers, 
concluded to dismiss him unconditionally, trusting to his honor for 
his doing his best to procure the release of the Russians. 

Kachi was greatly delighted at this mark of confidence, though 
he declined to go on shore till the next day, as it would not con- 



478 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


form to Japanese ideas of etiquette for him to land on the same 
day with his sailors. He confessed to Rikord that he had been 
greatly wounded by the threat to carry him to Okhotsk. It was not 
consistent with Japanese ideas, that a man of his position should 
remain a prisoner in a foreign country, and he had therefore made 
up his mind to prevent it by cutting himself open. He had accord¬ 
ingly cut off the tuft of hair from his head, — and he showed that 
it was gone, — and had laid it in the box wdth his picture ; it being 
customary with those about to die honorably, by their own hands, in 
a distant place, to send this token to their friends, who bury the 
tuft of hair with all the ceremonies which they would have bestowed 
upon the body. And he even intimated that previous to doing this 
execution on himself, he might first have stabbed Rikord and the 
next in command. 

Kachi exerted himself with the greatest energy in the matter of 
the negotiation, and he soon was able to produce a letter, in the 
hand-writing of Golownin, and signed by him and Moor, but which 
the jealousy of their keepers had limited to the simple announce¬ 
ment that they were alive and well at Matsmai. Afterwards one 
of the imprisoned Russian sailors was brought on board the ship, 
being sent from Matsmai for that purpose; but, though allowed to 
spend his days on board the Diana, he was required to return to the 
fort every night. In spite, however, of all the watchfulness of the 
Japanese, he had brought sewed up in his jacket a letter from 
Golownin, in which he recommended prudence, civility, candor, and 
especially patience, and entreated that no letters nor anything else 
should be sent him which might cause him to be tormented with 
questions and translations. 

The Japanese would not deliver up their prisoners till the Diana 
first sailed to Okhotsk, and brought from the authorities there a 
formal written disavowal of the hostilities of Chwostoff. At Okhotsk 
was found the letter from the governor of Irkutsk, previously sent 
for at Kachi’s suggestion, and with this document and another 
letter from the commander at Okhotsk, the Diana reached Hokodade 
towards the end of October. 

As we approached the town,” says Rikord, “ we observed that 
cloth was hung out only at a few places on the hill, or near it, and 
not over the whole buildings, as at Kunashir. With the assistance 



THE DIANA AT HAKODADE. 


479 


of our telescopes, we observed six of these screens of cloth, probably 
intended to conceal fortifications. There were, beside, five new for¬ 
tifications at short distances from each other, and from two to three 
hundred fathoms from the shore. 

“ We no sooner entered the roads than we were surrounded by a 
number of boats, of all descriptions and sizes, filled with the curious 
of both sexes. A European ship must, indeed, have been to them 
an object of uncommon interest; for, as far as I could ascertain, 
they had seen none since they were visited twenty-two years before 
by Laxman.* Many of the inhabitants, therefore, had never beheld 
a European vessel of any kind, and still less a ship of war; they 
accordingly thronged about us in vast numbers, and their curiosity 
frequently gave rise to disputes among themselves. The Doseene 
(soldiers), who were stationed in the watch-boats, continually called 
to them to keep at a further distance ; but so great was the confu¬ 
sion that, though the people generally showed great respect to the 
soldiers, their orders were on this occasion disregarded. The mili¬ 
tary, therefore, were under the necessity of using the iron batons 
which they wear fastened to their girdles by long silken strings. 
They neither spared rank nor sex; old persons alone experienced 
their indulgence, and we had various opportunities of observing 
that the Japanese, in all situations, pay particular respect to old 
age. In this case blows were freely dealt out to the yomig, of every 
description, who ventured to disobey the commands of the soldiers, 
and we were at length delivered from a multitude of visitors, who 
would have subjected us to no small degree of inconvenience.” 

Kachi came on board the next morning, and the letter from the 
governor of Okhotsk was given to him to be transmitted to the gov¬ 
ernor of Matsmai; but Captain Rikord refused to deliver the other 
letter except in person. After much negotiation, the ceremonial for 
an interview was arranged. The Japanese even conceded that the 

♦ There has been a great alteration in the last twenty years. Siebold 
states that sixty-eight square-rigged vessels — mostly no doubt American 
whalers — had been counted by the Japanese as passing Matsmai and Ha- 
kodade in one year. According to a memorandum furnished to Commodore 
Perry during his recent visit to Hakodade (May 3d, 1854), there had been, 
in the years 1847—1851, no less than five foreign vessels wrecked in that 
vicinity. 



480 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1811—1813. 


ten men, who landed with Rikord as his guard of honor, should be 
allowed to take their muskets with them ; he, on his part, agreeing 
to land in the Japanese governor’s barge, and, before entering the 
audience chamber, to substitute, instead of his boots, shoes, which 
Kachi undertook to pass off as leather stockings, llikord had for 
his interpreter a Japanese whom he had brought from Okhotsk, sent 
thither from Irkutsk, and who bore the Russian name of Kesseleff. 
The Japanese had Teske, who had learnt Russian of Golownin. 
The governor of Matsmai, Chatori-Bingo-iio-kami, was represented 
on this occasion by the governor of Hakodade, and by an acade¬ 
mician sent for the express purpose of making observations on the 
Russian ship of war, and collecting particulars respecting European 
science, — no other, indeed, than Doeffs friend, “ Globius.” 

The letter of the governor of Irkutsk was delivered, with great 
formality, in a box covered with purple cloth. Rikord took it out, 
read the address aloud, and returned it. Kesseleff, Rikord’s inter¬ 
preter, then handed the box to Teske, who raised it above his head, 
and placed it in the hands of the junior commissioner, who delivered 
it to the senior commissioner, who promised to deliver it to the 
bungo or governor. An entertainment followed of tea and sweet¬ 
meats, during which a Japanese was placed beside Rikord to receive 
and hand to him his share of the eatables. 

From the moment of the departure of the Diana for Okhotsk, 
Golownin and his companions had began to be treated rather as 
guests than prisoners. They were soon conveyed back to Hakodade, 
and at length, after a confinement of more than two years, were 
delivered up to Rikord, with a paper of which the following are the 
material parts: 

NOTIFICATION FROM THE GINJUTAKS, THE CHIEF COMMANDERS NEXT TO THE 
BUNGO OF MATSMAI. 

“ Twenty-two years ago a Russian vessel arrived at Matsmai, and eleven 
years ago another came to Nagasaki. Though the laws of our country were 
on both these occasions minutely explained, yet we are of opinion that we 
have not been clearly understood on your part, owing to the great dissimi- 
lai’ity between our languages and writing. However, as we have now de¬ 
tained you, it will be easy to give you an explanation of these matters. 
When you return to Russia, communicate to the commanders of the coasts 
of Kamtschatka, Okhotsk and others, the declaration of our bungo, which 



WARNING OFF. 


481 


will acquaint them with the nature of the Japanese laws with respect to the 
arrival of foreign ships, and prevent a repetition of similar transgressions on 
your part. 

“ In our country the Christian religion is strictly prohibited, and European 
vessels are not suffered to enter any Japanese harbor except Nagasaki. This 
law does not extend to Russian vessels only. This year it has not been en- 
force<l, because we wished to communicate with your countrymen ; but all 
that may henceforth present themselves will be driven back by cannon-balls. 
Bear in mind this declaration, and you cannot complain if at any future 
period you should experience a misfortune in consequence of your disregard 
of it. 

“ Among us there exists this law ; ‘ If any European residing in Japan 
shall attempt to teach our people the Christian faith, he shall undergo a 
severe punishment, and shall not be restored to his native country.’ As you, 
however, have not attempted to do so, you will accordingly be permitted to 
return home. Think well on this. 

“ Our countrymen wish to carry on no commerce with foreign lands, for 
we know no want of necessary things. Though foreigners are permitted to 
trade to Nagasaki, even to that harbor only those are admitted with whom 
we have for a long period maintained relations, and we do not trade with 
them for the sake of gain, but for other important objects. From the re¬ 
peated solicitations which you have hitherto made to us, you evidently im¬ 
agine that the customs of our country resemble those of your own ; but you 
are very wrong in thinking so. In future, therefore, it will be better to say 
no more about a commercial connection.” 

In all this business the efforts of Kachi had been indefatigable. 
At first he was treated by his own countrymen with the suspicion 
and reserve extended to all, even native Japanese, who come from 
a foreign country. For a long time he was not permitted to visit 
Golownin. A guard was set over him, and even his friends and 
relations could not see him except in presence of an imperial soldier. 
In fact, according to the Japanese laws, as a person just returned 
from a foreign country, he ought to have been allowed no corre¬ 
spondence at all with his friends. The governor of Hakodade, 
having a letter for him from his only son, said not a word to him 
about it, but having sent for him to convey a letter from Golownin 
on board the Diana, while walking up and down the room, threw 
his son’s letter towards him, as if it had been a piece of waste paper 
taken out of his sleeve accidentally with the other letter, and then 
turned his back to give him time to pick it up.* 

* In Japan, as elsewhere, etiquette requires a good many things to be done 

41 




482 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1811—1813. 


Kachi’s abduction had thrown his family into great distress. A 
celebrated priest, or spirit-medium, at Hakodade, to the question 
whether he ever would return, had answered, “ Kachi will return 
the ensuing summer, with two of .his companions; the remaining 
two have perished in a foreign land.” This answer was communi¬ 
cated to Golownin, who laughed at it; but when, on Kachi’s return, 
it appeared that two of his Japanese attendants had actually died, 
the Japanese believers were greatly edified, and highly indignant 
at Golownin’s persistence in maintaining that there was more of 
luck than foresight in the prophecy. Kachi’s wife, — another prob¬ 
ably than the young female with Avhom we are already acquainted, 
in her grief made a vow to go on a pilgrimage through the whole 
of Japan ; and Kachi assured Captain Kikord that scarcely had 
she returned from her pilgrimage, when she received his letter from 
Kunashir, announcing his return. 

Kachi had a bosom friend, who, on learning his fate, divided his 
large property among the poor, and took up his residence in the moun¬ 
tains, as a hermit. As appeared on various occasions, Kachi was a 
strict disciplinarian, and very punctilious. He had a daughter, whom, 
owing to some misconduct, he had discarded. She was dead to him, 
so he said ; and to Rikord, to whom he had told the story, and who 
had taken an interest in the girl, he had insisted that a reconciliation 
would be inconsistent wfith his honor. Yet, to show his hermit 
friend that in the way of self-sacrifice he was not to be outdone, 
he made up his mind to the great effort of calling his daughter 
into life, and forgiving her. His friend would, he said, when this 
communication was made to him, at once understand it. 

During Kachi’s absence his mercantile affairs had prospered, 
and before Rikord’s departure he brought on board the Diana, with 
all the evidence of paternal pride, his son, who seemed, indeed, to 
be a promising youth. He was very liberal in his distribution of 
silk and cotton wadded dresses to the crew, to all of whom he gave 
one or more, to his favorites the best ones, taking especial care 
to remember the cook. He then begged to be allow^ed to treat them. 
“ Sailors, captain,” so he said to Rikord, “ are all alike, whether 

under feigned pretences, and on many occasions an affected ignorance of 
what everybody knows. The Japanese have a particular term {neboen) to 
express this way of doing things. 





SOCIAL POSITION OF MERCHANTS. 


483 


Russian or Japanese. They are all fond of a glass; and there is 
no danger in the harbor of Hakodade.” So the sailors had a night 
of it, being plentifully supplied with saki and Japanese tobacco. 

Though he refused all presents of value, as being indeed prohib¬ 
ited by Japanese law, Kachi accepted with pleasure a Russian tea- 
set, as it would enable him, in entertaining his friends, to call to 
mind his Russian hosts; and he expressed much regret that the 
custom of his country did not allow him to invite Rikord to his 
own house. Finally, he brought a number of boats to help tow the 
Diana out of the harbor. 

This is the only full-length portrait we possess of a Japanese mer¬ 
chant ; and, if it represents the class, the fraternity have reason to 
be proud of their Japanese brethren, “The class of merchants in 
Japan,” says Golownin, “ is very extensive and rich, but not held in 
honor. The merchants have not the right to bear arms; * but though 
their profession is not respected, their wealth is; for this, as in Eu¬ 
rope, supplies the place of talents and dignity, and attains privileges 
and honorable places. The Japanese told us that their ofl&cers of 
state and men of rank behave themselves outwardly with great 
haughtiness to the merchants, but in private are very familiar with 
the rich ones, and are often under great obligations to them. We 
had with us for some time a young officer, who was the son of a rich 
merchant, and who, as the J apanese said, owed his rank not to his 
own merit, but to his father’s gold. Thus, though the laws do not 
favor the mercantile profession, yet wealth raises it; for even in 
Japan, where the laws are so rigorously enforced, they are often 
weighed down by the influence of gold.” 

* Yet Kachi wore two swords, though perhaps he did it in the character 
of a ship-master, or as an oflBcer in authority in the island to which he traded 
from Hakodade, carrying on the fishery there chiefly by means of native Ku¬ 
riles. These islands appear to have been farmed out by the government to 
certain mei’cantile firms, which thus acquire a certain civil authority 
over the inhabitants. The privilege of wearing swords, like other similar 
privileges elsewhere, is probably rather encroached upon by the unprivileged. 
On festival days, even the poorest inhabitants of Nagasaki decked themselves 
out, according to Kampfer, with at least one sword. The present of a 
sword as a marriage gift — and it is ceremonies practised among the mer¬ 
cantile class, to which reference is made — is mentioned on p. 437. 




CHAPTER XLV. 

RENEWAL OF THE DUTCH TRADE.—CAPTAIN GORDON IN THE BAT OF JEDO. 

-FISSCHER.-MEYLAN.-SIEBOLD. -BRITISH MUTINEERS.-VOYAGE OF 

THE MORRISON.-JAPANESE EDICT.-THE SARAMANGAT NAGASAKI.- 

THE MERCATOR IN THE BAY OF JEDO.-COMMODORE BIDDLE IN THE BAY 

OF JEDO.-SHIPWRECKED AMERICANS.-FRENCH SHIPS OF WAR AT NA¬ 
GASAKI. — THE PREBLE AT NAGASAKI. -SURVEYING SHIP MARINER IN 

THE BAYS OF JEDO AND SIMODA.-NEW NOTIFICATION THROUGH THE 

DUTCH. —A. D. 1817—1850. 

Great was the delight of Heer Doeflf, when, in the year 1817, two 
vessels arrived at last from Batavia, bringing news of its restoration 
to the Dutch; also — what was hardly less welcome — a supply of 
butter, wine, and other European creature comforts ; together with 
goods for renewing the trade, and a decoration of the order of the 
Lion for Doeff, whose conduct in holding out against the English 
had been highly approved in Holland. 

On board these ships were several women, among others the wife 
of Herr Blomholf, appointed to succeed Doeff as director, who had 
with her an infant child. This novelty greatly disturbed the Jap¬ 
anese. It was with the utmost difficulty that permission was ob¬ 
tained for the wife of the new director to land : her remaining: was a 
thing not to be listened to, and she was obliged to leave her hus¬ 
band and to return to Batavia in the departing ships.* 

Shortly after this renewal of the old Dutch intercourse, a new 
English attempt was made at commerce with Japan. Captain 

* The old East India Company having bpcome extinct, the Dutch trade to 
Japan had been revived as a government affair. A new Dutch East India 
Company having been formed, it was handed over to that company in 1827, 
but, after a two j'cars’ trial, was restored again to the government, in whose 
hands it still remains. 


AN ENGLISH SHIP IN THE BAY OF JEDO. 


485 


Gordon, of the British navy, entered, in June, 1818, the bay of 
Jedo, in a little trading brig, from Okhotsk, of sixty-five tons’ bur¬ 
den. He was immediately visited by two oflicers, to whom he 
said that he had come merely to obtain permission to return with 
a cargo of goods for sale. They insisted upon unshipping his rud¬ 
der, and required all his arms to be given up. The vessel was then 
surrounded by a circle of some twenty boats, and beyond by a circle 
of sixty larger ones, besides two or three junks, mounting a number 
of guns. Two interpreters came on board, one speaking Dutch, 
the other some Russian, and both a little English. They inquired 
if the vessel belonged to the East India Company ; if the English 
were friends of the Dutch, and if Captain Golownin was at Okhotsk. 
They asked after the king of Holland, the king of France, and 
Bonaparte. They knew the names and uses of the various nauti¬ 
cal instruments, and said that the best were made at London. In 
a subsequent visit, they told Captain Gordon that permission could 
not be granted for his trading to Japan, as by their laws all foreign 
intercourse was interdicted, except at Nagasaki, and there only 
allowed with the Dutch and Chinese, and he was requested to de¬ 
part the moment the wind was fair. The interpreters declined any 
presents, being prohibited, they said, from accepting any. Captain 
Gordon was much struck with the polite and affable conduct of the 
Japanese, both towards him and towards each other. Everything 
that had been taken on shore was carefully returned, and thirty 
boats were sent to tow the vessel out of the bay. The shores were 
lined with spectators, and, as soon as the guard-boats had left, not 
less than two thousand visitors came on board in succession, all 
eager to barter for trifles.* 

In 1820, J. F. Van Overmeer Fisscher arrived at Nagasaki, as 
a member of the factory. He resided there for seven years, and 
after his return to Holland, published, in 1833, a work in the 
Dutch language, entitled “ Contributions towards a Knowledge of 
the Japanese Empire,” embellished with engravings from Japanese 
drawings, so superior to former specimens as to give occasion for 
some suspicion of aid from the European engraver. 

* See London Quarterly Review, for July, 1819, in a note to an article on 
Golownin’s narrative. The statement about bartering is questionable. 

41 # 





486 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


Ill 1822, Fisscher accompanied Blomlioff in the quadriennial em¬ 
bassy to Jedo, which, from its long intermission, appears to have 
excited unusual attention. It had been proposed to make the 
embassy annual as formerly; but to this change the Japanese 
authorities would not assent. Fisscher’s account of the journey does 
not differ materially from that given by Ktimpfer and Thunberg. 
The entrance into Jedo, notwithstanding the absence of carriages, 
reminded him, from the noise and the throng of people, of the com¬ 
mercial parts of London. The shops had signs, as in Europe ; the 
goods were exhibited from the doors and windows under the charge 
of boys, who rivalled each other in calling by loud cries the atten¬ 
tion of purchasers. Long before entering Sinegawa they found 
themselves in the midst of a vast crowd, marching along broad 
streets, paved at the sides, formed of houses, regularly built, among 
which were many large buildings. From the suburb to their hotel, 
called Nagasakia, and in the immediate vicinity of the palace, it 
was two hours’ march; and, as the palace was said to occupy a 
space half a Japanese mile in diameter, Fisscher estimates the diam¬ 
eter of the whole city at not less than five or six hours’ walk at an 
ordinary step. 

After the audience and the official visits were over, the Dutch 
spent twelve days in receiving visits. Among the crowds who 
obtained the privilege of seeing them, were several princes or their 
secretaries, and many savans, DoefiPs Globius among the rest. Sev¬ 
eral of these visitors had more or less knowledge of the Dutch lan¬ 
guage, and great eagerness was exhibited to obtain new scientific 
information. To a party given to the Dutch by the master of the 
mint and the conductor of the embassy, many of the Japanese 
guests came rigged out in Dutch clothes; and as these had been 
collected through long intervals, and preserved as curiosities, they 
presented a very grotesque and antique appearance.* Fisscher’s own 
party were laid under contribution in the same way, their lady visit¬ 
ors unpacking and rummaging their trunks, and putting them to the 
necessity of giving away some of the most valuable articles. The 

* Siebold represents the Dutch at Desima as humoring the Japanese antip¬ 
athy to change, by adhering in their dress to the old fashion, and as rigged 
out in velvet coats and plumed hats, in the style of Vandyke’s pictures. 




JAPANESE WOMEN. 


487 


greater part, however, were content with a few words written on 
their fans. 

Mr. G. F. Meylan, who first arrived in Japan shortly after Fiss- 
cher left it, and who subsequently died there, as director, has also 
contributed something to our knowledge of Japan, by a thin vol¬ 
ume published in 1830, like Fisscher’s, in the Dutch language, with 
the title of “ Japan ; presented in Sketches of the Manners and Cus¬ 
toms of that Realm, especially of the Town of Nagasaki.” One of 
the most original things in Meylan’s book is his apology for the 
custom of the Dutch in taking female companions from the Nagasaki 
tea-houses. None of the male Japanese servants are allowed to 
remain in Desima over night. “ How, then,” plaintively asks Mr. 
Meylan, “ could the Dutch residents otherwise manage to procure any 
domestic comfort in the long nights of winter,— their tea-water, for 
instance, — were it not for these females ? ” He passes a high eulogy 
upon their strict fidelity and affectionate activity; and indeed the con¬ 
nection appears to be regarded by them not so much in the light in 
which we see it, as in that of a temporary marriage. The female 
inmates of the Japanese tea-houses hold, indeed, in the estimation of 
their own people, a very different position from that which our man¬ 
ners would assign to them; since not only is the custom of frequenting 
these houses, as places of relaxation and amusement, general among 
the men, but sometimes, according to Fisscher, they even take their 
wives along with them. 

Of the personal charms of these wives, with their teeth blackened, 
their eyebrows shaven, their lips painted red and their faces 
white, Fisscher does not give a very high idea. The concubines do 
not shave their eyebrows, but the custom of blackening the teeth is 
so common as to be adopted by all females above the age of eigh¬ 
teen. The immoderate use of the warm bath causes them to look, at 
twenty-five, at least ten years older. Not content with the natural 
burdens of child-bearing, they augment them by several absurd 
customs, one of which is the wearing, during pregnancy, a tight 
girdle round the body. 

The works of Fisscher and Meylan are chiefly valuable for the 
confirmation they give of Kampfer’s accounts, and as showing the 
Japanese very little altered from what they were when he described 
them. A visitant to Japan, and a writer of much higher preten- 



488 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


sions, is Dr. Philipp Franz Yon Siebold, who was sent out, in 1823, 
commissioned by the Dutch government, to make all possible inves¬ 
tigations, as well into the language, literature and institutions, as 
into the natural history of the country. The Japanese interpreters 
understood Dutch so well as to detect his foreign accent, but they 
were satisfied with the explanation that he was a Dutch mountain¬ 
eer. He availed himself, as KUmpfer had done, of all means that 
ofiered to elude the restrictive laws; and he found, like Thunberg 
and Titsingh, a certain number of the natives very anxious to obtain 
information, and by no means unwilling secretly to impart it. 

In 1826, he accompanied Van Sturlen, the director, on the 
quadriennial journey to Jedo, taking with him a young na¬ 
tive physician, a native artist, and several servants “to assist his 
researches into natural history. Following, as Fisscher had done, 
nearly or quite in Kiimpfer’s old route, he saw, in the passage across 
Kiusiu, the same old camphor-tree, as flourishing, apparently, as 
it had been a hundred and thirty-flve years before, but with a hollow 
in its trunk large enough to hold fifteen men. He visited the 
same hot springs, and descended some sixty feet into the coal mine, 
near Kokura, mentioned by Kampfer. He saw only one thin seam 
of coal, but was told of thicker ones below—an account which the 
coal drawn up seemed to confirm. 

At Jedo he met with many Japanese physicians, astronomers and 
others, of whose acquisitions he speaks with much respect. 

Besides the other means, already pointed out, of measuring time, 
he saw in use there Chinese clysedrus, or water-clocks; but the 
method most relied upon for scientific purposes was a clock, of which 
the idea was derived from one introduced into China by the Jesuit 
Ricci, and brought thence to Japan. This clock is worked by two 
balances, one to act by day and the other by night. The arm of 
each balance is notched, to accord with the variations in the length 
of the hours. At the summer solstice the weights are hung respec¬ 
tively upon the outermost notch of the day-balance, and upon the 
innermost notch of the night-balance. At intervals of six days, 
four hours and twelve minutes, both weights are moved ; that of the 
day-balance a notch inward, that of the night-balance a notch out¬ 
ward, until at the winter solstice their original positions are reversed. 

After Siebold’s return to Nagasaki, he continued diligently to 




PHILIPP FEANZ VON SIEBOLD. 


489 


follow out his object, keeping up, through means of the interpreters, 
a correspondence with his Jedo friends. In the course of five years he 
had not only made large collections for the government of specimens 
ill natural history, but also, on his own account, of Japanese books 
and other curiosities, besides acquiring a considerable knowledge of 
the language. His collections in natural history had been shipped 
to Batavia ; he was preparing himself to follow, when an unlucky 
disclosure took place. The imperial astronomer, notwithstanding 
the law to the contrary, had secretly sent him a copy of a new map 
of Japan, lately constructed on European principles. One of the 
draftsmen employed in making it having quarrelled with the astron¬ 
omer, informed against him, in consequence of which the astrono¬ 
mer, his servants, the interpreters, several of Siebold’s pupils, and 
other Japanese suspected of being concerned in this affair, were 
arrested and subjected to a strict examination. Siebold himself 
was called upon to give up the map; and, when he hesitated about 
it, underwent a domiciliary visit, followed by an order to consider 
himself under arrest, and a prohibition to leave Japan until the 
investigation was terminated. Finding thus not only the fruits 
of his own labor, but the lives of his Japanese friends, in danger, 
he made a full confession as to the map, endeavoring thus to 
remove suspicions and to preserve some other documents in his pos¬ 
session, of which the Japanese yet had no knowledge, and which 
might have compromised other persons not yet suspected. Studiously 
concealing the connection of the Dutch government with his mission, 
he thought it best to represent himself as simply a private inquirer, 
whose researches into natural history and the physical sciences 
might be no less useful to the Japanese than they were interesting 
to himself Of the particulars of this affair no account has ever 
been published. It is said that some of his J apanese friends found 
it necessary to cut themselves open, but Siebold himself was 
speedily released, with his entire collections, which he brought with 
him to Holland, and by means of which he converted his residence 
at Leyden into a very curious Japanese museum. 

The fruits of his researches, so far as zoology is concerned, and 
of those of Dr. Burger, left behind as his successor, have been pub¬ 
lished by the labors of some distinguished naturalists, and under 
the patronage of the king of Holland, in a very splendid and ex- 



490 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


pensive work, called Fauna Japonica, with colored plates of most 
of the animals described, and in the preparation of which the native 
works on the subject were largely consulted. This work includes 
three lizards, two tortoises, six snakes, eleven of the frog family, 
three hundred and fifty-nine fishes (Siebold describes the Japanese 
as a nation of fish-eaters), besides several whales, and two hundred 
and two birds. The principal quadrupeds, natives of Japan, and 
described in it, are a small Jeer, an antelope, in the most southern 
parts an ape, a wolf, a bear, and in Jeso another more ferocious 
species, like the Rocky jMountain bear, a wild hog, two foxes, and 
a number of smaller animals. There is no animal of the cat kind, 
except the domestic cat. The dogs used for hunting appear to be 
indigenous. There are pet house-dogs, derived from China, and 
troops of street-dogs — belonging to no individual, but denizens of 
particular streets — of a mongrel breed between the two. 

The Flora Japonica, prepared by Zaccarini, from Siebold’s col¬ 
lection, containing descriptions and drawings of one hundred and 
twenty-four remarkable plants, was interrupted by the death of that 
botanist, as was also another, less costly, but fuller enumeration of 
Japanese plants, arranged in natural families. The latter work, so 
far as completed, contains four hundred and seventy-eight genera, 
and eight hundred and forty-seven species. Siebold states, that of 
five hundred plants most remarkable for ornament or utility, at 
least half arc of foreign origin, chiefly from China. 

Siebold’s observations, during his residence in Japan, upon other 
subjects than natural history, have been principally embraced in a 
publication in numbers, originally in German, but a French trans¬ 
lation of parts of which has appeared, entitled “ Nippon, or Ar¬ 
chives for the Description of Japan.” This work, projected like 
most of Siebold’s publications, on an extensive scale, contains many 
translations from Japanese historical works, and exhibits a great 
deal of erudition, at the same time it is diffuse, confused, incohe¬ 
rent, introducing a great deal of matter with only a remote bearing 
on the subject; and, whatever light it may throw upon some partic¬ 
ular points, not, on the whole, adding a great deal to the knowledge 
we previously had of Japan, so far, at least, as the general reader 
would be likely to take an interest in it.* 

* A series of numbers, professing to give the substance of the recent works 




VOYAGE OF THE MORRISON. 


491 


The same year in which Siebold was released, a party of English 
convicts, on their way to Australia in the brig Cyprus, mutinied 
and got possession of the vessel. After cruising about for five 
months, being in great distress for wood and water, they anchored 
on the coast of Japan ; but they were fired at from the shore, and 
obliged to depart without accomplishing their object. 

Not long after this occurrence, three Japanese, the only survi¬ 
vors of the crew of a junk, driven by storms across the Pacific, 
landed on Queen Charlotte’s Island, on the north-west coast of 
America. They were seized by the natives, but were redeemed by 
an agent of the English Fur Company at the mouth of Columbia 
river, and sent to England. From England they were carried to 
Macao, where they were placed in the family of Mr. Gutzlaff, the 
missionary. Some time after, four other Japanese, who had been 
wrecked on the Philippines, were brought to Macao. 

The return of these men to their homes seemed a good opportu¬ 
nity for opening a communication with Japan, as well for mercan¬ 
tile as for missionary purposes, and an American mercantile house 
at Macao fitted out the brig Morrison for that purpose, in which 
sailed one of the partners. Dr. Parker, a missionary physician, and 
Mr. S. W. Williams, one of the editors of the Chinese Repository^ 
and afterwards Chinese interpreter to Commodore Perry’s squad¬ 
ron. At Lew Chew, where the vessel touched, Mr. Gutzlaff also 
came on board. 

on Japan, principally Fisscher’s, Meylan’s, and Siebold’s, appeared in the 
Asiatic Journal, during the years 1839 and 1840, and were afterwards col¬ 
lected and published at London in a volume, and reprinted in Harper’s Fam¬ 
ily Library, with the title of Jdanncrs and Customs of the Japanese in the 
JVineteenth Century. The same numbers, to which some others were sub¬ 
sequently added in the Asiatic Journal, were reprinted in the Chinese Re¬ 
pository, with notes, derived from the information given to the editor by the 
shipwrecked Japanese, whom, as mentioned above, it was attempted to carry 
home in the Morrison. In the index to the Chinese Repository these num¬ 
bers are ascribed to a lady, a Mrs. B. 

A still more elaborate and comprehensive work, based mainly on the same 
materials, and often drawing largely from the one above referred to, but 
rendered more complete by extracts from Kampfer and Thunberg, is De 
Jancigny’s “Japan,” published at Paris, in 1850, as a part of the great French 
collection, entitled L’univers, ou Histoire et Description de tout les Peuples. 

Neither of these works contains any account of the Portuguese missions. 




492 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1817—1850. 


On the 27th of July, 1837, the chain of islands was made lead¬ 
ing up to the bay of Jedo, up which the Morrison proceeded some 
thirty miles, to Uragawa, the west coast of the bay, rising hill above 
hill, and the view terminating in the lofty peak of Fusi. Near 
Uragawa, many of the hills were cultivated in terraces, but the 
general aspect of the shores was bleak and barren. Just above, the 
passage was narrowed by two points of land projecting fiom oppo¬ 
site directions. 

Having anchored about three quarters of a mile from the shore, 
the ship was soon visited by a number of boats. Their crews, some 
two hundred in number, and evidently of the lower class, hardly 
seemed to understand the Chinese writing in which provisions, water, 
and a government officer to communicate with, were asked foi. 
They seemed, however, to invite a landing; but during the night 
cannon were planted on the nearest eminence, and, though the firing 
was unskilful, the Morrison was obliged to weigh. She was pur¬ 
sued by three gun-boats, each with thirty or forty men, which bore 
down upon her, firing swivels; but when she lay to to wait for 
them, they retired. A piece of canvas, on which was painted, in 
Chinese, that a foreign ship desired to return some shipwrecked 
natives, and to obtain some provisions and water, was thrown over¬ 
board ; but, though it was picked up, no notice was taken of it. 
The Japanese on board, who had recognized the shores of their 
country with delight, were much mortified at the result, which they 
ascribed in part to their not having been allowed to communicate 
with their countrymen. 

For the purpose of making a second experiment, on the 20th of 
August the Morrison entered the bay of Kangosima, in the princi¬ 
pality of Satsuma. The shores, rising gradually from the water, 
were under high cultivation. A boat from the ship boarded a 
Japanese fishing-vessel, and proceeded to a little village, where 
they found the people in great commotion. The Morrison followed, 
and, when opposite the village, was visited by a richly-dressed 
officer, with a number of almost naked attendants. He stated that, 
supposing the ship to be a pirate, preparations had been made to 
fire on her; but, satisfied by the representations of the Japanese 
on board of the true state of the case, he received, with much ap¬ 
parent interest, the despatches prepared for the prince of Satsuma 




THE MORRISON DRIVEN OFF. 


493 


and the emperor, which he promised to deliver to a superior officer. 
He left a pilot on board ; a supply of water was sent, and the ship 
was visited by many boat-loads of people, superior in appearance 
to those seen in the bay of Jedo; but they brought nothing to sell. 

The despatches were soon brought back by several officers, the 
superior officer, it was stated, declining to receive them. They 
added that the depositions of the Japanese passengers, who had 
landed for the purpose of giving them, had been forwarded to Kan- 
gosima, and that a superior officer might be expected from that 
city. Provisions were promised, and that the vessel should be 
towed higher up the bay; but, early in the morning of the twelfth, 
the crew of a fishing-boat communicated to the Japanese on board a 
rumor that the ship was to be expelled. Warlike preparations were 
soon seen on shore, in strips of blue and white canvas stretched from 
tree to tree. The J apanese on board stated, with rueful faces, that 
these preparations portended war; nor, according to their descrip¬ 
tion, were these cloth batteries so contemptible as they might seem, 
as four or five pieces of heavy canvas, loosely stretched, one behind 
another, at short intervals, would weaken the force of,'indeed, 
almost stop, a cannon ball. 

Officers on horseback, and several hundred soldiers, soon made 
their appearance, and a fire of musketry and artillery was com¬ 
menced. The anchor was weighed, and the sails set, but there was 
no wind. For eighteen hours the ship was exposed, without any 
means of offering resistance, to two fires from opposite sides of the 
bay, which was from three to five miles broad, till, at last, she was 
with difficulty conducted clear of the shoals, and past the forts. 

All hope of friendly intercourse, or of returning the men, was 
now abandoned. The poor fellows suffered severely at this unex¬ 
pected extinction of their prospect of revisiting their families. They 
expressed great indignation at the conduct of their countrymen, and 
two of them shaved their heads entirely, in token, as it was under¬ 
stood, of having renounced their native soil. As it was not deemed 
expedient to go to Nagasaki, where the Japanese on board expressed 
their determination not to land, the Morrison returned to Macao.* 

^ Three accounts of this voyage have been published, one by Williams 
i^Chinese Repository, Nov. and Dec., 1837); a second by Parker, London, 

42* 




494 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1817—1850. 


In 1843, probably in consequence of this visit of the Morrison, 
the Japanese authorities promulgated an edict, of which the follow¬ 
ing is a translation, as given by the Dutch at Desima, who were 
requested to communicate to the other European nations — the first 
attempt ever made to employ their agency for that purpose. 

“ Shipwrecked persons of the Japanese nation must not be brought back 
to their country, except on board of Dutch or Chinese ships, for, in case 
these shipwrecked persons shall be brought back in the ships of other na¬ 
tions, they will not be received. Considering the express prohibition, even 
to Japanese subjects, to explore or make examinations of the coasts or islands 
of the empire, this prohibition, for greater reason, is extended to foreigners.’* 

The British opium war in China, of the progress of which the 
Japanese were well informed, if it increased the desire of the Eng¬ 
lish to gain access to Japan, did not, by any means, diminish the 
Japanese dread of foreigners.* 

In 1845, the British surveying frigate Saramang entered the 

1838, and a third by King, New York, 1839. It is possible that outrages 
by whaling vessels, which had begun to frequent the seas of Japan in con¬ 
siderable numbers, might have somewhat increased the antipathy of the 
Japanese towards foreigners. Of transactions of that kind we should be 
little likely to hear, but that they did sometimes occur, seems to be proved 
by a paragraph in the Sidney Gazelle of Feb. 1842, warning mariners to be 
cautious how they landed on Japan, as a Japanese village on the east coast 
of the islands, somewhere near 43° north latitude, had been recently de¬ 
stroyed by the crew of the Lady Rowena, then in the harbor of Sidney, and 
whose captain openly boasted of the fact. 

* Had the Japanese been readers of the London newspapers, they might 
have found in the following paragraph, which appeared in the Examiner of 
Januai’y 21st, 1843, fresh motives for persisting in their exclusive policy : — 
“Missionaries to China. — One of the largest meetings, perhaps, ever 
held in Exeter Hall, was held on Tuesday evening, convened by the London 
Missionary Society, to consider the means of extending and promoting in China 
the objects of the society. Wm. T. Blair, Esq., of Bath, presided. Dr. Lief- 
child moved the first resolution, expressive of thanksgiving to God for the 
war between China and Great Britain [the infamous opium war], and for 
the greatly enlarged facilities secured by the treaty of peace for the introduc¬ 
tion of Christianity into that empire. This resolution was seconded by the 
Rev. Dr. Adler, and was carried unanimously.” I have met with nothing in 
the letters of the Jesuit missionaries, nor in the history of the Jesuit missions, 
that can be compared with this specimen of Protestant zeal. 



VOYAGES OF THE SARAMANG AND MERCATOR. 495 


harbor of Nagasaki. As she approached she was surrounded by 
numerous guard-boats, from one of which a letter was handed, in 
Dutch and French, directing her to anchor otf the entrance, till 
visited by the authorities. The Japanese ofScers who came on 
board, stated that they had been apprized of this intended visit by 
the Dutch, and that they were acquainted with the recent visit of 
the Saramang to the Lew Chew and other islands, and of her oper¬ 
ations there. 

With great difficulty permission was obtained to land, in order 
to make some astronomical observations, but the officers earnestly 
begged that this might not be repeated till they could consult their 
superiors ; nor were they willing that the vessel should leave till such 
consultation had taken place. They asked, for this purpose, a stay 
of two days. The captain oifered to wait four days, if they would 
allow his observations to be continued; but this they declined, urg¬ 
ing, as a reason, their own danger of punishment. The vessel was 
freely supplied with such provisions as she needed, and the British 
officers were strongly impressed with the demeanor of the Japanese, 
as at once dignified and respectful. 

That same year, the American whale-ship Mercator, Captain 
Cooper, while cruising among the northern islands of the Japanese 
group, fell in with a sinking junk, from which she took eleven 
Japanese sailors, and as many more from a rock, to which they had 
escaped. Captain Cooper proceeded with these rescued men to the 
bay of Jedo, and, on anchoring there, was surrounded by near four 
hundred armed boats, which took the ship in tow, took all the arms 
out of her, and carried her in front of a neighboring town, probably 
Odawara. Here she was guarded for three days, being all the 
while an object of curiosity to great crowds. Orders presently 
came from Jedo, in these words : — 

m 

“ I am informed, by the mouths of some shipwrecked persons of our coun¬ 
try, that they have been brought home by your ship, and that they have 
been well treated. But, according to our laws, they must not be brought 
home, except by the Chinese or Dutch. Nevertheless, in the present case, 
we shall make an exception, because the return of these men by you must be 
attributed to your ignorance of these laws. In future, Japanese subjects 
will not be received in like circumstances, and will have to be treated rigor¬ 
ously when returned. You are hereby advised of this, and that you must 
make it known to others. 



496 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


“ As, in consequence of your long voyage, provisions, and wood and water 
are wanting on board your ship, we have regard to your request, and what¬ 
ever you want will be given to you. 

“ As soon as possible after the reception of this order, the ship must depart 
and return directly to her own country.” 

Immediately upon the receipt of this order, the ship was abun¬ 
dantly supplied with provisions, her arms were returned, and she 
was towed out of the bay by a tile of boats more than a mile long. 
It would seem that since the visit of the Morrison, a fleet of guard- 
boats had been provided to take the bay of Jedo in charge. 

Commodore Biddle, sent soon after to the China Seas, with 
a considerable American naval force, was instructed, among 
other things, to ascertain if the ports of Japan were accessible. 
With this object in view, with the Columbus ship of the line, and 
Vincennes frigate, he anchored (July 20th, 1848) in the bay of 
Jedo. Before the ships reached their anchorage, an officer with a 
Dutch interpreter came on board to inquire their object. He was 
told that the vessels came as friends to ascertain whether Japan 
had, like China, opened her ports to foreign trade; and, if she had, 
to negotiate a treaty of commerce. The officer requested that this 
statement should be reduced to writing, for transmission to the 
higher authorities. He also stated that all needed supplies would 
be furnished, but refused permission to land, and even wished to 
stop the passing of boats between the two vessels ; but, as the com¬ 
modore would not agree to this, he did not persist in it. The vessel 
was soon surrounded by a multitude of boats, and as many Japanese 
as wished were allowed to come on board, both as a proof of friend¬ 
ship and to let them see the strength of the ships. 

Another officer, apparently of higher rank, came on board the 
following morning. He stated that foreign ships, on arriving in 
J apan, were required to give up their arms; but when told that 
only trading vessels could be expected to do that, he appeared to 
be satisfled. The emperor’s reply might be expected, he said, in 
tive or six days. He was ofiered copies in Chinese of the late Eng¬ 
lish, French and American treaties with China, but declined to re¬ 
ceive them, as did all the other Japanese officers to whom they were 
offered. To explain the concourse of guard-boats about the ship, he 
pretended that they were only waiting in readiness to tow the ships 





BIDDLE IN THE BAY OP JEDO. 


49T 


if needed. These boats followed the ships’ boats when sent at some 
distance for sounding, but did not offer to molest them, nor did the 
crews of the ship’s boats make any attempt to land. 

The Japanese, who had undertaken to water the ships, sent OS' the 
first day less than two hundred gallons, and the next day not so much. 
As this was less than the daily consumption, the commodore stated 
that if they went on so, he should send his own boats. This was 
by no means acceptable, and in the two next days they furnished 
twenty-one thousand gallons. 

On the 28th, an officer with a suite of eight persons came on 
board with the emperor’s letter, which, as translated by the Dutch 
interpreter, read thus: 

“ According to the Japanese laws, the Japanese may not trade except with 
the Dutch and Chinese. It will not be allowed that America make a treaty 
with Japan or trade with her, as the same is not allowed with any other 
nation. Concerning strange lands all things are fixed at Nagasaki, but 
not here in the bay ; therefore, you must depart as quick as possible, and 
not come any more to Japan.” 

The Japanese original, as translated at Canton, first into Chinese 
and from Chinese into English, runs as follows : 

“ The object of this communication is to explain the reasons why we re¬ 
fuse to trade with foreigners who come to this country across the ocean for 
that purpose. 

“ This has been the habit of our nation fx*om time immemorial. In all 
cases of a similar kind that have occurred we have positively refused to 
trade. Foreigners have come to us from various quarters, but have always 
been received in the same way. In taking this course with regard to you, 
we only pursue our accustomed policy. We can make no distinction between 
different foreign nations — we treat them all alike, and you as Americans 
must receive the same answer with the rest. It will be of no use to renew 
the attempt, as all applications of the kind, however numerous they may be, 
will be steadily rejected. 

“We are aware that our customs are in this respect different from those 
of some other countries, but every nation has a right to manage its affairs in 
its own way. 

“ The trade carried on with the Dutch at Nagasaki is not to be regarded, 
as furnishing a precedent for trade with other foreign nations. The place is 
one of few inhabitants and very little business, and the whole affair is of no 
importance. 

42 * 



498 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


“ In conclusion, we have to say that the emperor positively refuses the 
permission you desire. He earnestly advises you to depart immediately, 
and to consult your own safety in not appearing again upon our coast.” 

This paper, which had neither address, signature nor date, was 
enclosed in an open envelope, on which was written, “ Explanatory 
Edict.” With respect to the delivery of it, the following circum¬ 
stance occurred, which will best be stated in the words of the com¬ 
modore’s despatch : 

“ I must now communicate an occurrence of an unpleasant char¬ 
acter. On the morning that the officer came down in the junk with 
the emperor’s letter, I was requested to go on board the junk to 
receive it. I refused, and informed the interpreter that the officer 
must deliver on board this ship any letter that had been entrusted 
him for me. To this the officer assented; but added, that my letter 
having been delivered on board the American ship, he thought the 
emperor’s letter should be delivered on board the Japanese vessel. 
As the Japanese officer, though attaching importance to his own 
proposal, had withdrawn it as soon as I objected to it, I concluded 
that it might be well for me to gratify him, and I informed the 
interpreter that I would go on board the junk, and there receive 
the letter. The interpreter then went on board the junk, and in an 
hour afterwards I went alongside in the ship’s boat, in my uniform. 
At the moment that I was stepping on board, a Japanese on the 
deck of the junk gave me a blow or push, which threw me back 
into the boat. I immediately called to the interpreter to have the 
man seized, and then returned to the ship.” The interpreter and a 
number of Japanese followed, who expressed great concern at what 
had happened, and who succeeded in convincing the commodore 
that his intention of coming on board had not been understood. 
They offered to inflict any punishment he chose on the offender; 
but as to that matter he referred them to the laws of Japan ; and 
being satisfied that it was an individual act, without authority 
from the officers, he concluded to be satisfied.* What interpre- 

* His instructions cautioned him not to do anything “ to excite a hostile 
feeling, or distrust of the United States.” The official papers relating to 
this expedition, and to the subsequent one of the Preble, will be found in 
Senate Documentsy 1851—1852, vol. ix. [Ex. Doc. No. 59.] 




CAPTIVE SEAMEN. 


499 


tation was put upon his conduct by the Japanese will presently 
appear. 

At the very moment that these ships were thus unceremoniously 
sent away, eight American sailors were imprisoned in Japan, though 
possibly the fact was not then known at Jedo. They had escaped 
from the wreck of the whale-ship Lawrence, to one of the Japanese 
Kuriles, where they had landed early in June. After an imprison¬ 
ment of several months, they were taken to Matsmai, and finally to 
Nagasaki. One of them, in an attempt to escape, was killed. At 
last, after seventeen months’ confinement, they were given up to the 
Dutch at Desima, and sent to Batavia in the ship of 1847. Ac¬ 
cording to an account signed by the mate, and published in the 
Serampore Free Press, their usage had been very hard. 

On the 28th of July, the day preceding the departure of the two 
American ships from the bay of Jedo, two French ships of war, the 
frigate Cleopatra, commanded by Admiral Cecille, and a corvette, 
on a surveying expedition, entered the harbor of Nagasaki, for 
the purpose, as the admiral stated, of letting the Japanese know 
that the French, too, had great ships of war; but being surrounded 
by boats and refused all intercourse with the shore, they departed 
within twenty-four hours. In consequence .of these visits the Dutch 
at length communicated to the French and American governments, 
copies of the edict of 1843, concerning the return of shipwrecked 
Japanese, and surveys of the Japanese coast, already given. 

In September, 1848, fifteen foreign seamen arrived at Nagasaki, 
forwarded from Matsmai in a Japanese junk, from which they were 
carried in close kangos to a temple prepared for their residence, and 
around which a high palisade was erected, no communication with 
them being allowed. Indeed, it was not without a good deal of 
difficulty that the director of the Dutch factory obtained leave to 
send them some articles of food and clothing. As none of the 
sailors understood Dutch, the Japanese officers who had them in 
charge found it difficult to communicate with them, — to aid in 
which, the Dutch director was finally called in. Eight of the men, 
according to their own account, were Americans, all quite young, 
and seven of them Sandwich-Islanders. They stated themselves to 
have escaped from the wreck of the American whaler, Ladoga, 
which, according to their account, had struck a shoal in the Sea of 




500 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


Japan, and gone to pieces. The director wished to send them to 
Batavia in the annual Dutch vessel, then about to sail, but for this 
a reference to Jedo was necessary, which would take forty days, 
much beyond the time fixed by the Japanese rule for the departure 
of the ship. 

These facts having been communicated, under date of Jan. 27, 
1849, by the Dutch consul at Canton to the American commissioner 
there. Captain Geisenger, in command on that station, despatched 
the sloop-of-war Preble, Commander Glyn, to Nagasaki, to bring 
away these sailors. 

Glyn touched at Lew Chew, where he learned from the Kev. B. 
J. Bettelheim,* a missionary resident there, that very exaggerated 
reports had reached these islands of chastisement inflicted upon an 
American officer who had visited Jedo in a “ big ” ship. The mis¬ 
sionary seemed even to think that these reports were not without 
their influence upon the authorities of Lew Chew, as the cause of a 
“ want of accommodation ” exhibited in their conduct towards the 
Pre})le, — a piece of information which had its influence in lead¬ 
ing Captain Glyn to assume a very decided tone in his subsequent 
intercourse with the authorities of Nagasaki. 

The Preble made the land off Nagasaki on the 17th of April. 
Japanese boats, which soon came alongside, threw on board a bam¬ 
boo, in the split of which were papers containing the customary 
notifications to foreign vessels, as to their anchorage, and the con¬ 
duct they were to observe, and certain questions which they were 
to answer. These papers (in English, with some Dutch variations) 
were verbatim as follows : 

* Dr. Bcttelheim is at this moment in this country, anxious to be employed 
as a missionary to Japan, for which his experience, dei’ived from a nine 
years’ residence in Lew Chew, gives him peculiar qualifications. His treat¬ 
ment there was characteristic. The authorities were anxious to get rid of 
him, but afraid to send him away by force, while he was determined not to 
go. The inhabitants were ordered to keep away from his house, to sell him 
nothing beyond a supply of food, and to avoid him whenever he came near ; 
while officers were appointed to watch and to follow him wherever he went. 
See Glyn’s Letter in Senate Documents, 1851—1852, vol. ix.. No. 59. There 
are also two curious pamphlets on the subject, written by Dr. Bettelheim, 
and printed at Canton. 




NOTIFICATIONS TO FOREIGN SHIPS. 


501 


1. Warning io respective commanders^ their officers and crew of the 
vessels approaching the coast of Japan, or anchoring near the coast in the 
bays of the empire. — During the time foreign vessels are on the coast of 
Japan, or near, as well as in the bay of Nagasaky, it is expected and like¬ 
wise ordered, that every one of the schip^s company will behave properly 
towards and accost civillen the Japanese subjects in general. No one may 
leave the vessle, or use her boats for cruising or landing on the islands or on 
the main coast, and ought to remain on board until further advice from the 
Japanese government has been received. It is likewise forbidden to fire 
guns, or use other fire-arms on board the vessle, as well as in their boats. 

» Very disagreeable consequences might result in case the aforesaid schould 
not be strictly observed. [Signed], The Governor of Nagasaki. 

2. To the commanders of vessels approaching this empire under Dutch 
or other colors. — By express orders of the governor of Nagasaki, you are 
requested, as soon as you have arrived near the northern Cavallos, to anchor 
there at a safe place, and to remain until you will have received further 
advice. Very disagreeable consequences might result in case this order 
should not be strictly observed. Desima. [Signed.] The Reporters attached 
to the Superintendent’s office. [Seal.] Translated by the Superintendent 
of the Netherlands’ trade in Japan. [Qu. chief interpreter ?] 

3. [This is addressed like No. 2, and contains the same orders about an¬ 
chorage. It then proceeds as follows :] “ Please to answer, as distinctly 

and as soon as possible, the following questions : What is the name of your 
vessel ? What her tonnage ? What is the number of her crew ? Where do 
you come from ? What is the date of your departure? Have you any 
wrecked Japanese on board ? Have you anything to ask for, as water, fire¬ 
wood, &c. &c. ? Are any more vessels in company with you bound for this 
empire ? By order of the governor of Nagasaki. Translated by the Super¬ 
intendent of the Netherlands’ trade in Japan. Desima. 

* Upper Reporter. [Seal.] 
Under Reporter. [Seal.] 

The ship was soon after boarded by a Japanese interpreter with 
seven men, who gave directions in English as to her anchorage; 
but, as the captain persisted in selecting his own ground, the officer 
yielded. To another officer, who came on board to learn what he 
wanted, he stated his object, which led to many inquiries. The 
vessel was surrounded by guard-boats, and the usual offer was 
made of supplies, which were refused unless payment would be ac¬ 
cepted. To an officer who came on board the next day. Captain 

* The same officers probably, designated by Kampfer as deputies of the 
governor, called by Thunberg banjos, and by the more recent Dutch writers 
gobanjosi. 



502 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1817—1850. 


Glyn complained of these guard-boats; and he gave him also a 
letter to the governor of Nagasaki, stating his object. The same 
officer having returned on the 22d, but only with promises of a 
speedy answer, Captain Glyn remonstrated with warmth. Finally, 
on the 26th, through the intervention of the Dutch director, who, 
being sick himself, sent one of his subordinates on board, the 
sailors were delivered up without waiting to send to Jedo, as 
had been proposed. The day before, a curious memorandum in 
Japanese Dutch, a sort of journal or history of the prisoners since 
their capture, was handed to the captain, who was very hard-pressed 
to say whether he would sail as soon as he received them. Another 
memorandum in Dutch was also handed to him, to the effect, that as 
all shipwrecked mariners were sent home by the Chinese or Dutch, 
this special sending for them was not to be allowed. 

It appears, from the statements of the men, that they were, in 
fact, deserters, having left the Ladoga near the Straits of Sangar. 
At a village on the coast of Jeso, where they landed, they were 
supplied with rice and firewood, but while they staid were guarded 
by soldiers, and surrounded by a cloth screen, as if to keep them 
from seeing the country. Landing two days after at another vil¬ 
lage, they were detained as prisoners, and were confined in a house 
guarded by soldiers; but for some time were amused by promises 
that they should be released and furnished with a boat. Disap¬ 
pointed in this expectation, two of them escaped, but were speedily 
recaptured. A quarrel taking place between them, one of them 
was shut up in a cage, and two others, having made a second escape, 
after being retaken were shut up with him. A new quarrel happen¬ 
ing in the cage, one of the prisoners was taken out and severely 
whipped. Two months after their capture, the whole number were 
put in a junk, the three close prisoners in one cage, the twelve 
others in another, and forwarded to Nagasaki. They were lodged 
at first in a palisaded and guarded house, and were subjected to 
several interrogations, being flattered with hopes of being sent home 
in the Dutch vessel then in the harbor. In order to get on board 
her, McCoy (who described himself as twenty-three years old, and 
born in Philadelphia, and who appears to have bees the most intel¬ 
ligent of the party) made a third escape. Japanese jails, he ob¬ 
served, might do well enough for Japanese, but could not hold 





AMERICAN PRISONERS. 


503 


Americans. Being retaken, he was tied, — much as described in 
Golownin’s narrative, — put into a sort of stocks, and repeatedly 
examined under suspicion of being a spy. Thence he was taken to 
the common prison and confined by himself for three weeks; but, on 
threatening to starve himself, and refusing to eat for three days, he 
was restored to his companions, it would seem, through the inter¬ 
cession of the Dutch director, who endeavored to persuade the men 
to wait patiently, and not to quarrel among themselves. 

After a month’s longer detention, a new escape was planned, but 
only McCoy and two others succeeded in getting out. Being retaken 
they were tied, put in the stocks, and finally all were sent to the 
common prison, where they had very hard usage. It was stated, 
and no doubt truly enough, in the Dutch memorandum, respecting 
their treatment, handed in by the Japanese, that they gave so much 
trouble that the authorities hardly knew what to do with them. 
One of the Americans died, and one of the Sandwich-Islanders 
hung himself. IMcCoy, who had learned considerable Japanese, was 
secretly informed of the arrival of the Preble by one of'the guards 
with whom he had established an intimacy. 

At the same time with these men another seaman from an 
American whaler was delivered up, who had landed a month or 
two later on some still more northerly Japanese island. As this 
man, named McDonald, and who described himself as twenty-four 
years old, and born at Astoria, in Oregon, had made no attempt at 
escaping, he had no occasion to complain of severity. In fact, he 
lived in clover, the Japanese having put him to use as a teacher 
of English. The very interpreter who boarded the Preble had 
been one of his scholars. All these men stated that they had been 
required to trample on the crucifix as a proof that they were not 
Portuguese, that reason being suggested to them when they showed 
some reluctance to do it. 

McCoy mentioned, and others confirmed it, that when he threat¬ 
ened the Japanese guards with vengeance from some American 
ship of war, they told him that they had no fears of that, as the 
year before, at the city of Jedo, a common soldier had knocked 
down an American commander, and no notice had been taken of 
it. McCoy and the others strenuously denied having ever heard 
this story (evidently referring to the occurrence described in a pre- 



504 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1850. 


ceding page) before it was thus mentioned to them by the Jap¬ 
anese. 

McDonald, before his release, was requested by the Japanese to 
describe the relative rank of the commander of the Preble, by count¬ 
ing down in the order of succession from the highest chief in the 
United States. Like a true republican, he began with the people; 
but the Japanese, he says, could make nothing of that. He then 
enumerated the grades of president, secretary of the navy, commo¬ 
dore, post captain and commander, which latter rank, being that of 
the officer in question, seemed so elevated as rather to excite the 
surprise of his auditors. 

Five weeks after the departure of the Preble, on the 29th of 
May, Commander Matheson, in the British surveying ship Mariner, 
anchored in the bay of Jedo, off the town of Uragawa, and three 
miles higher up, according to his statement, than any other vessel 
had been allowed to proceed. As he entered the bay, he was met 
by ten boats. A paper was handed up, in Dutch and French, re¬ 
questing him not to anchor, nor cruise in the bay; but when the 
Japanese found he was determined to proceed, they offered to tow 
him. During the night he was watched by boats and from the 
shore. Having a Japanese interpreter on board, he communicated 
the object of his visit, and sent his card on shore to the governor 
of the town, with a note in Chinese, proposing to wait upon him ; 
to which the governor replied, that it was contrary to the law for 
foreigners to land, and that he should lose his life if he allowed 
Captain Matheson to come on shore, or to proceed any higher up 
the bay. 

The survey of the anchorage having been completed, Matheson 
proceeded, on the 31st, to the bay of Samoda, on the other side of 
the promontory of Idsu, where he spent five days in surveying, and 
was detained two days longer by the weather. After the second 
day, he was visited by an interpreter, who understood Dutch, and 
by two -officers from Urawaga, apparently spies on each other, to 
watch his proceedings ; and finally an officer of rank, from a town 
thirteen miles off, came on board. There were three fishing villages 
at the anchorage, and he landed for a short time, but the Japanese 
officers followed, begging and entreating him to go on board again. 




505 


EXCLUSIVE POLICY ADHERED TO. 


The ship was supplied with plenty of fish, and boats were furnished 
to tow her out. 

In 1850, the Japanese sent to Batavia, in the annual Dutch ship, 
three American sailors who had been left in 1848 on one of the 
Kurile Islands, also thirty-one other sailors belonging to the Eng¬ 
lish whaling-ship Edmund, of Bobertstown, wrecked on the coast 
of Jeso. At the same time, probably in consequence of the numer¬ 
ous recent visits to their coasts, the Dutch were requested to give 
notice to other nations, that although it had been determined, in 
1842, to furnish with necessary supplies such foreign vessels' as 
arrived on the coast in distress, this was not to be understood as 
indicating the least change as to the policy of the rigorous exclusion 
of foreigners. 


43 





CHAPTER XLV. 


FOREIGN RELATIONS — NEW SIOGUN. — DUTCH TRADE.-CHINESE TRADE. — 

AMERICAN E.MBASSY. -ITS OBJECT.-LETTER TO THE E5IPEROR. — PER¬ 
RY’S FIRST VISIT TO THE BAY OF JEDO. -DEATH OF THE SIOGUN.- 

perry’s second visit to THE BAT OF JEDO. -NEGOTIATION OP A 

TREATY. — THE TREATY AS AGREED TO.-SIMODA.-HAKODADE. — ADDI¬ 
TIONAL REGULATIONS.-JAPANESE CURRENCY. -BURROW’S VISIT TO THE 

BAY OF JEDO.-THIRD VISIT OF THE AMERICAN STEAMERS.-RUSSIAN AND 

ENGLISH NEGOTIATIONS.-EXCHANGE OF RATIFICATIONS.- EARTHQUAKE. 


AVe have seen in the last chapter how the whale fishery, on the 
one hand, and the opening of China to foreign trade, on the other, 
had more and more drawn attention to Japan; in the conduct of 
whose functionaries, however, no indication appeared of any dispo¬ 
sition to abandon their ancient exclusive policy. It has even been 
asserted* that a new Siogun, who had succeeded in 1842 (after a 
fifty-five years’ reign on the part of his predecessor), had imposed new 
restrictions on foreign products, and, by special encouragement to 
home productions of similar kinds, had endeavored to supersede the 
necessity of receiving anything from abroad. It is certain that the 
Dutch trade rather diminished than increased. The amount of 
that trade, from 1825 to 1833, inclusive, is stated by Jancigny, 
from ofi&cial returns, or those reputed to be such, at 289,150 florins 
($115,620) for importations, and 702,695 florins ($281,078) for 
exportations. In 1846, the importations reached only 231,117 fr. 
($92,446), and the exportations 552,319 fr. ($220,927); and those 
of the preceding year had been about the same. The private trade, 
and the attempts at smuggling connected with it, were very nar¬ 
rowly watched. Within the preceding ten years, one interpreter 

* By Siebold, in Moniteur des Indes^ vol. ii., p. 346, in his “ Essay on the 
Commerce of Japan.” 


DUTCH AND CHINESE TRADE. 


50T 


had been executed, and another had been driven to cut himself 
open, in consequence of complicity in smuggling. The private 
trade had been farmed out, for the benefit of those interested in it, 
at 30,000 fl. ($12,000) annually —the amount at which Kamp- 
fer had reckoned the profits from that source of the director alone. 
Among the Dutch imports upon government account, woollens, silks, 
velvets, cotton goods, gold, silver, tin, lead, mercury, and a few 
other articles, are mentioned. Sugar, formerly a leading article, no 
longer appears on the list. The returns continued to be exclusively 
in camphor and copper, the latter furnished by the Japanese gov¬ 
ernment at the old rates, much below the current price, by which 
advantage alone was the Dutch trade sustained. Among the pri¬ 
vate importations were spices, chemicals, and a great variety of 
Paris trinkets, for which various Japanese manufactures and prod¬ 
ucts were taken in exchange. 

The Chinese trade had declined not less than that of the Dutch. 
The ten junks a year, to which it was now restricted, all came from 
Sha-po (not far from Chusan), half of them in January and the 
other half in August — their cargoes, which include a great variety 
of articles, being partly furnished by private merchants who come 
over in them, but chiefly by a commercial company at Sha-po, for 
whom the captains of the junks act as supercargoes. Except as to 
some trifling articles, this trade seems, like that of the Dutch, to be 
pretty much in the hands of the government, who, or some privileged 
company under them, purchase the imports and furnish a return 
cargo to each junk, two fifths in copper and the remainder in other 
articles. The Chinese, however, still continued to be allowed much 
more liberty than the Dutch of personal intercourse with the inhab¬ 
itants of Nagasaki. 

The settlement of California, the new trade opened thence with 
China, and the idea of steam communication across the Pacific, for 
which the coal of Japan might be needed, combined with the exten¬ 
sion of the whale fishery in the Northern Japanese seas to increase 
the desire in America for access to the ports of Japan. Shortly 
after the visit of the Preble, the American government resolved to 
send an envoy thither, backed by such a naval force, as would 
ensure him a respectful hearing — the cases of Biddle and Glynn 
seeming to prove that the humoring policy could not be relied upon, 





508 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


and that the only way to deal successfully with the J apanese was 
to show a resolution not to take no for an answer. 

Accordingly, Mr. Webster, as Secretary of State, prepared a let¬ 
ter from the President to the Emperor of Japan ; also a letter of 
instructions to the American naval commander in the China 
seas, to whom it was resolved to entrust the duty of envoy, and 
whose force was to be strengthened by additional ships. The sail¬ 
ing, however, of these ships was delayed till after Mr. Webster’s 
death; and in the mean time Commodore Matthew C. Perry was 
selected as the head of the expedition. A new letter,* dated Nov. 

1852, addressed from the State Department to the Secretary of 
the Navy, thus defined its objects: 

“ 1. To effect some permanent arrangement for the protection of 
American seamen and property wrecked on these islands, or driven 
into their ports by stress of weather. 

“ 2. The permission to American vessels to enter one or more 
of their ports, in order to obtain supplies of provisions, water, fuel, 
&c.; or, in case of disasters, to refit so as to enable them to prose¬ 
cute their voyage. It is very desirable to have permission to estab¬ 
lish a depot for coal, if not on one of the principal islands, at- 
least on some small, uninhabited one, of which it is said there 
are several in their vicinity. 

, “ 3. The permission to our vessels to enter one or more of their 
ports for the purpose of disposing of their cargoes by sale or 
barter.” 

The mission was to be of a pacific character, as the president 
had no power to declare war; yet the show of force was 
evidently relied upon, as more likely than anything else to weigh 
with the Japanese. The Dutch government, it was stated, had in¬ 
structed their agents at Desima to do all they could to promote the 
success of the expedition. Indeed, if we may believe Jancigny, t 
who speaks from information obtained during a residence at Bata- 

* The official documents relating to this expedition were printed by order of 
U. S. Senate, 33d Cong., 2d Sess. Ex. Doc. No. 34. 

t Japan, p. 197. Perry, to judge by his letters (Dec. 14, 1852, May 6, 
1853), did not place much reliance on the aid of the Dutch. The British 
Admiralty showed their good will by furnishing the latest charts and sailing 
directions for the Eastern seas. 



AMERICAN LETTER TO THE EMPEROR. 


509 


via in 1844-45, the King of Holland had, as long ago as that time, 
addressed a letter to the Emperor of Japan, urging him to abandon 
the policy of exclusion. The letter of instructions disavowed any 
wish to obtain exclusive privileges; but, as a matter of policy, 
nothing was to be said about other nations. 

A new letter to the Emperor of Japan was also prepared in the 
following terms: 

“ Millard Fillmore, President of the United States of America, to 
HIS Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan. 

“ Great and Good Friend : 

“ 1 send you this public letter by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, an oificer 
of the highest rank in the navy of the United States, and commander of the 
squadron now visiting your imperial majesty’s dominions. 

“ I have directed Commodore Perry to assure your imperial majesty that 
I entertain the kindest feelings towards your majesty’s person and govern¬ 
ment, and that I have no other object in sending him to Japan but to 
propose to your imperial majesty that the United States and Japan should 
live in friendship and have commercial intercourse with each other. 

“ The constitution and laws of the United States forbid all interference 
with the religious or political concerns of other nations. I have particularly 
charged Commodore Perry to abstain from every act which could possibly 
disturb the tranquillity of your imperial majesty’s dominions. 

“ The United States of America reach from ocean to ocean, and our Terri¬ 
tory of Oregon and State of California lie directly opposite to the dominions 
of your imperial majesty. Our steamships can go from California to Japan 
in eighteen days. 

“ Our great state of California produces about sixty millions of dollars in 
gold every year, besides silver, quicksilver, precious stones, and many other 
valuable articles. Japan is also a rich and fertile country, and produces 
many very valuable articles. Your imperial majesty’s subjects are skilled 
in many of the arts. I am desirous that our two countries should trade with 
each other, for the benefit both of Japan and the United States. 

“ We know that the ancient laws of your imperial majesty’s government 
do not allow of foreign trade except with the Chinese and the Dutch ; but, 
as the state of the world changes, and new governments are formed, it seems 
to be wise, from time to time, to make new laws. There was a time when 
the ancient laws of your imperial majesty’s government were first made. 

“ About the same time America, which is sometimes called the New World, 
was first discovered and settled by the Europeans. For along time there were 
but a few people, and they were poor. They have now become quite numer¬ 
ous ; their commerce is very extensive ; and they think that if your impe¬ 
rial majesty were so fiir to change the ancient laws as to allow a free trade 
between the two countries, it would be extremely beneficial to both. 

43 * 





510 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


If your imperial majesty is not satisfied that it would be safe altogether 
to abrogate the ancient laws, wliich forbid foreign trade, they might be sus¬ 
pended for five or ten years, so as to try the experiment. If it does not prove 
as beneficial as was hoped, the ancient laws can be restored. The United 
States often limit their treaties with foreign states to a few years, and then 
renew them or not, as they please. 

“ I have directed Commodore Perry to mention another thing to your im¬ 
perial majesty. Many of our ships pass every year from California to China ; 
and great numbers of our people pursue the whale fishery near the shores of 
Japan. It sometimes happens, in stormy weather, that one of our ships is 
wrecked on your imperial majesty’s shores. In all such cases we ask, and 
expect, that our unfortunate people should be treated with kindness, and that 
their property should be protected, till we can send a vessel and bring them 
away. We are very much in earnest in this. 

“ Commodore Perry is also directed by me to represent to your imperial 
majesty that we understand there is a great abundance of coal and provis¬ 
ions in the empire of Japan. Our steamships, in crossing the great ocean, 
burn a great deal of coal, and it is not convenient to bring it all the way 
from America. We wish that our steamships and other vessels should be 
allowed to stop at Japan and supply themselves with coal, provisions and 
water. They will pay for them in money, or anything else your imperial 
majesty’s subjects may prefer ; and we request your imperial majesty to 
appoint a convenient port, in the southern part of the empire, where cur 
vessels may stop for this purpose. We are very desirous of this. 

“ These are the only objects for which I have sent Commodore Perry, with 
a powerful squadron, to pay a visit to your imperial majesty’s renowned 
city of Yedo: friendship, commerce, a supply of coal and provisions, and 
protection for our shipwrecked people. 

“ We have directed Commodore Perry to beg your imperial majesty’s ac¬ 
ceptance of a few presents. They are of no great value in themselves ; but 
some of them may serve as specimens of the articles manufactured in the 
United States, and they are intended as tokens of our sincere and respectful 
friendship. 

“ May the Almighty have your imperial majesty in his great and holy 
keeping ! 

“ In witness whereof, I have caused the great seal of the United States to 
be hereunto affixed, and have subscribed the same with my name, at the 
city of Washington, in America, the seat of my government, on the thir¬ 
teenth day of the month of November, in the year one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and fifty-two. Your good friend, 

[Seal attached.] “ Millard Fillmore. 

“ By the President : Edward Everett, Secretary of State.” * 

* As some persons may feel a curiosity to see Mr. Webster’s original letter, 
and as it is not to be found in the edition of Mr. Webster’s writings edited by 





AMERICAN LETTER TO THE EMPEROR. 


511 


Furnished with these orders, and this letter splendidly en¬ 
grossed and enclosed in a gold box of the value of a thousand dol¬ 
lars, and provided also with a variety of presents. Commodore Perry, 

Mr. Everett, I have copied it from the Senate Documents, 1851-52, vol. ix. 
The expansion given to it in the letter actually sent was not according to 
Japanese taste, which greatly affects brevity. 


To His Imperial Majesty the Emperor op Japan. 


“ Great and Good Friend : 

“I send you this letter by an envoy of my own appointment, an officer of 
high rank in this country, who is no missionary of religion. He goes by my 
command to bear to you my greeting and good wishes, and to promote friend¬ 
ship and commerce between the two countries. 


“You know that the United States of America now extend from sea to 
sea ; that the great countries of Oregon and California are parts of the United 
States, and that from these countries, which are rich in gold, and silver, and 
precious stones, our steamers can reach the shores of your happy land in less 
than twenty days. 

“ Many of our ships will now pass in every year, and some perhaps in 
every week, between California and China. These ships must pass along 
the coast of your empire ; storms and winds may cause them to be wrecked 
on your shores, and we ask and expect from your friendship and your great¬ 
ness, kindness for our men and protection for our property. We wish that 
our people may be permitted to trade with your people ; but we shall not 
authorize them to break any laws of your empire. 

“ Our object is friendly commercial intercourse, and nothing more. You 
have many productions which we should be glad to buy ; and we have pro¬ 
ductions which might suit your people. 

“ Your empire has a great abundance of coal; this is an article which our 
steamships, in going from California to China, must use. They would be 
glad that a harbor in your empire should be appointed to which coal might 
be brought, and where they might always be able to purchase it. 

“ In many other respects, commerce between your empire and our country 
would be useful to both. Let us consider well what new interests arise from 
these recent events which have brought our two countries so near together’ 
and what purposes of friendship, amity and intercourse, they ought to 
inspire in the breasts of those who govern both countries. Farewell. 

“ Given under my hand and seal, at the city of Washington, the 10th day 
II s 1 of May, 1851, and of the independence of the United States the 
seventy-fifth. 


“M. Fillmore. 


“ By the President: 

“ D. Webster, Secretary of State.’* 




512 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


towards the end of 1852, sailed from the United States in the steam- 
frigate Mississippi, and, after touching at Madeira and the Cape 
of Good Hope, arrived at Hong Kong in April, 1853, whence he 
proceeded to Shanghai. The dispersion of the vessels of the squad¬ 
ron, delay in the arrival of others from the United States, difficulty in 
obtaining coal, and the claim of the American merchants in China, 
in consideration of existing civil commotions, to the protecting pres¬ 
ence of a naval force, caused some delays. But, at length, after 
touching at Lew Chew, and making a visit to the Bonin Islands,* 
Perry, with the steam-frigate Susquehanna, now the flag-ship, the 
Mississippi, and the sloops-of-war Plymouth and Saratoga, made 
Cape Idsu about daybreak on the 8th of July. Many rumors had 
been current on the coast of China of extensive warlike prepara¬ 
tions by the Japanese, aided by the Dutch, and the squadron was 
fully prepared for a hostile reception. Perry had made up his 
mind, instead of attempting to conciliate by yielding, to stand upon 
his dignity to the utmost, to allow no petty annoyances, and to 
demand as a right, instead of soliciting as a favor, the courtesies 
due from one civilized nation to another. 

The promontory constituting the province of Idsu appeared, as 
the vessels ran along it, to be a group of high mountains, their sum¬ 
mits scarred with slides, and their sides mostly wooded, though 

* These islands lie between 26° 30' and 27° 45' north latitude, about five 
hundred miles west of Lew Chew and the same distance south of Jedo, on 
the direct route from the Sandwich Islands to Shanghai, three thousand 
thi-ee hundred miles from the former, and about one thousand one hun¬ 
dred from the latter. They consist af three groups. The largest island is 
about forty miles in circumference. There are nine others, diminishing 
down to five or six miles of circumference, and about seventy rocky islets, all 
evidently of volcanic origin. The extent of the whole is about two hundred 
and fifty square miles. The name is Japanese, and signifies “ uninhabited,” 
descriptive of the state in which they were found when discovered by a Jap¬ 
anese vessel in 1675 ; and, except some ineffectual attempts at penal colo¬ 
nization by the Japanese, so they remained till occupied, in 1830, by a colony 
from the Sandwich Islands, partly Americans and Europeans, and partly 
Sandwich-Islanders. They had been visited and claimed for the British 
crown in 1827, by Captain Beechey, in the surveying ship Blossom. The 
larger ones are fertile and well watered, but scantily wooded. The largest, 
called Peel’s Islands by Beechey, has a good harbor, and here Perry bought a 
piece of land from a squatter for a coal depot. 




perry’s EIRST VISIT. 


513 


here and there a cultivated spot could be seen. By noon the ships 
reached Cape Sagami, which separates the inner from the outer bay 
of Jedo. The shores of this point rose in abrupt bluffs two hun¬ 
dred feet high, with green dells running down to the water-side. 
Further off were groves and cultivated fields, and mountains in the 
distance. 

Leaving behind some twelve or fifteen Japanese boats, which put 
off from Cape Sagami to intercept them, the vessels stood up 
through the narrowest part of the bay, not more than five to eight 
miles wide, but expanding afterwards to fifteen miles, having now 
also in sight the eastern shore, forming a part of the province of 
Awa.* 

Within half an hour after passing Cape Sagami, they made 
another bold promontory from the west, forming a second entrance 
to the upper bay. In the bight formed by it lay the town of 
Uragawa, visible from the ships, which, sounding their way, anchored 
within a mile and a half of the promontory, — a mile or more in 
advance of the anchorage ground of the Columbus and Vincennes. 

As the ships dropped their anchors two or three guns or mortars 
were fired from the second promontory, and four or five boats put 
off. They were of unpainted wood, very sharp, their greatest 
breadth well towards the stern, and propelled with great rapidity 
by tall, athletic rowers, naked, save a cloth about the loins, who 
shouted lustily as they pulled. In the stern of each boat was a 
small flag, with three horizontal stripes, the middle one black, the 
others white, and about it were four or five well-dressed men with 
two swords in their girdles. 

Some parley took place before anybody was admitted on board, 
that favor being refused except to the person highest in authority 
in the town. The conversation was carried on in Dutch, which the 
Japanese interpreter spoke very well; and, from what he said, it 
was evident that the vessels had been expected. After a long par¬ 
ley, in which the high rank of the commodore, and the necessity of 
his being met by persons of corresponding rank, were very much 
insisted upon, an officer, representing himself as second in command 
at the town in sight, was admitted on board. The commodore, how- 

* There is another province of the same name in the island of Sikokf. That 
above-mentioned is otherwise called Fusiu. 



514 


JAPAN.-A. I>. 1817—1854. 


ever, declined to see him in person, and turned him over to Mr. 
Contee, the flag lieutenant, who, assisted by the two interpreters ^ 
one for Dutch, the other for Chinese* —had a long interview with 
him and his interpreter in the cabin. He was told that the object 
of the expedition was to deliver a letter from the President of the 
United States to the Emperor, and that some high officer must be 
sent on board to receive it; also, that the squadron would not sub¬ 
mit to be watched and guarded, after the Japanese fashion, but 
that all the guard-boats must withdraw. The officer, as usual, was 
very inquisitive. He wanted to know whether the vessels came from 
Boston, New York, or Washington, how many men they had, &c., 
&c.; but these questions he was given to understand were regarded 
as impertinent. 

Seeing the determination evinced, the Japanese officer, by name 
Tabroske^ returned on shore, taking back his official notifications in 
French, Dutch and English, addressed to ships arriving on the coast 
(like those given p. 501), which the lieutenant refused to receive. He 
was followed by the boats, which, after that, kept at a respectful 
distance. He came back in about an hour to excuse his superior from 
receiving the letter addressed to the emperor. He spoke of Nagasaki 
as the proper place for foreign ships to touch at, and doubted if the let¬ 
ter would be answered; but all this was cut short by the assurance 
that if his superior did not send for the letter, the ships would pro¬ 
ceed still higher up the bay to deliver it themselves; upon which 
information, much agitated, he stipulated for permission to return in 
the morning. As he departed, looking at the long gun in the cabin, 
he exclaimed, with an interrogative look, “ Paixhan ? ” showing 
that the Japanese were not ignorant of the modern improvements 
in gunnery any more than of American geography. 

It was noticed that, towards night, the boatmen put on their Jap- 
anese gowns, most of them blue, with white stripes on the sleeves, 
meeting angular-wise on the shoulders, and with a symbol or 
badge on the back. Others wore gowns of red and white stripes, 

* The squadron had, as Chinese interpreter, Mr. S. W. Williams, an Ameri¬ 
can, long resident at Macao, one of the editors of the Chinese Repository, and 
one of the party of the Morrison, to carry back the shipwrecked Japanese, 
from whom he had obtained some knowledge of that language. 





perry’s first visit. 


515 


with a black lozenge upon the back. A few had broad bamboo hats, 
like a shallow basin inverted; but most of them were bareheaded. 
The oflBcers wore light and beautifully lackered hats, with a gilded 
symbol in front. 

During the night watch-fires blazed along the coast, and bells 
were heard sounding the hours. The next morning (Saturday), 
Koyama Yezaimon^ first in command at the town, came on board, 
and made another attempt to beg off from receiving the letter to the 
emperor. Finally, he proposed to send to Jedo for permission, and 
was allowed three days to do it in. 

Meanwhile, surveying parties from the ships ran up the bay a 
distance of four miles, finding everywhere from thirty to forty 
fathoms of water. They sounded round the bight within which 
the ships lay, keeping about a cable’s length from the shore, and 
finding five fathoms. Yezaimon represented that this survey was 
against the Japanese laws, but was told that if forbidden by the 
laws of Japan, it was commanded by the laws of America. On 
approaching the forts, of which there were five, two apparently of 
recent construction, the soldiers, armed with matchlocks, came out; 
but, as the boats drew near, they retired again. These forts were very 
feeble, mounting only fourteen guns in the whole, none larger than 
nine-pounders. Of soldiers, about four hundred were seen, many 
of them armed with spears. There was also, as usual, a great 
show of canvas screens; but, on the whole, the warlike means of 
the Japanese seemed contemptible. From the town to the end of 
the promontory, a distance of a mile and a half, was an unbroken 
line of villages. At least a hundred small craft lay in the harbor. 
The hills behind, some five hundred feet high, were dotted with 
pines and other trees. In the morning and evening, when the air 
was clear, mount Fusi might be seen in the west, sixty miles dis¬ 
tant. The presence of the American ships did not seem to disturb 
the coasting trade. Sixty or seventy large junks, besides hundreds 
of boats and fishing-smacks, daily passed up and down the bay, to 
and from Jedo. 

On Monday, the 11th, the same surveying party proceeded up 
the bay some ten miles, followed by the Mississippi. They were 
constantly met by government boats, the ofificers on board which 
urged them by signs to return, but of which they took no notice. 



516 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


Deep soundings were everywhere obtained, with a bottom of soft 
mud. A deep bay was found on the western shore, with good 
and safe anchoring ground. 

In the evening, Yezaimon returned on board, well pleased, ap¬ 
parently, to be able to give information of the probability of good 
news from Jedo, but rather troubled at the explorations by the 
boats. The flag lieutenant, with whom he had his interviews, de¬ 
scribes him as “ a gentleman, clever, polished, well-informed, a fine, 
large man, about thirty-four, of most excellent countenance, taking 
his wine freely, and a boon companion.” 

The next day (the 12th) he brought information that the emperor 
would send down a high ofiicer to receive the letter. No answer 
would be given immediately, but one would be forwarded through 
the Dutch or Chinese. This latter proposition the commodore 
treated as an insult. As, however, if he waited for an answer, ex¬ 
cuses might easily be found for protracting his stay in an inconven¬ 
ient manner, and at last wearying him out, he agreed to allow 
time for its preparation, and to return to receive it. The following 
Thursday (the 14th) was appointed for the interview with the com¬ 
missioners appointed to receive the letter, which was to take place 
two miles south of the town, at a picturesque spot, on the left side 
of a narrow valley, extending inland from the head of the bight. 
Its retired situation, and the facility it afforded for the display of a 
military force, were probably the motives of its selection. 

At the hour appointed for the meeting, as the two steamers 
approached the spot, long lines of canvas walls were seen stretching, 
crescent-wise, quite round the head of the bight, and in front files 
of soldiers with a multitude of brilliant banners. Near the centre 
of the crescent were nine tall standards, with broad scarlet pennons, 
in the rear of which could be seen the roof of the house prepared 
for the interview. On the right, a line of fifty or sixty boats was 
drawn up, parallel to the beach, each with a red flag at its stern. 

The foremost files of the Japanese soldiers stood about a hundred 
yards from the beach, in somewhat loose and straggling order. 
The greater part were behind the canvas screens. There were a 
number of horses to be seen, and in the background a body of 
cavalry. The Japanese stated the number of troops at five thou- 




DELIVERY OF THE PRESIDENT’S LETTER. 


517 


sand. On the slope of the hill, near the village, was collected a 
crowd of spectators, of whom many w^ere women. 

As soon as the steamers dropped their anchors, they were ap¬ 
proached by two boats, containing their former visitors, the first 
and second officers of the town, with the interpreters, very richly 
dressed in silk brocade, bordered with velvet, and having on their 
garments of ceremony. The steamers lay with their broadsides to 
the shore, ready for action in case of treachery. Fifteen launches 
and cutters were got ready, from which three hundred and twenty 
persons, officers, seamen, marines, and musicians, were landed on 
an extemporaneous jetty which the Japanese had formed of bags of 
sand. Last of all the commodore landed with due formality, when 
the whole body, preceded by the Japanese officers and interpreters, 
marched to the house of reception, carrying with them the presi¬ 
dent’s letter, the box which held it WTapped in scarlet cloth, as was 
also that containing the letter of credence. In front of the houses 
prepared for the interview were two old brass four-pounders, appar¬ 
ently Spanish, and on each side a company of soldiers, those on 
one side armed with matchlocks, those on the other with old Tower 
muskets, with flint locks and bayonets. The reception building was 
a temporary structure, evidently put up for the occasion. The first 
apartment, about forty feet square, was of canvas. The floor was 
covered with white cotton cloth, with a pathway of red felt leading 
across to a raised inner apartment, wholly carpeted with the same 
red felt. This apartment, of which the front w^as entirely open, 
was hung with fine cloth, stamped with the imperial symbols in 
white on a ground of violet. On the right was a row of arm-chairs 
for the commodore and his staff. On the opposite side sat the two 
commissioners appointed to receive the letters, and who were an¬ 
nounced by the interpreters as the princes of Idsu and Iwami. 
The former was a man about fifty, with a very pleasing and intelli¬ 
gent face. The latter was older by fifteen years or so, wrinkled 
with age, and of looks much less prepossessing. Both were splen¬ 
didly dressed, in heavy robes of silk tissue, elaborately ornamented 
with threads of gold and silver. As the commodore entered, both 
rose and bowed gravely, but immediately resumed their seats and 
remained silent and passive as statues. 

At the end of the room was a large scarlet-lackered box, stand- 

44 



518 


JAPAN.— A. D. 1817-1854. 


ing on gilded feet, beside'which Yezaimon and one of the interpre¬ 
ters knelt, at the same time signifying that all things were ready 
for the reception of the letters. They were brought in, and the 
boxes containing them being opened so as to display the writing and 
the golden seals, they were placed upon the scarlet box, and along 
with them translations in Dutch and Chinese, as well as an English 
transcript. The prince of Iwami then handed to the interpreter, 
who gave it to the commodore, an official receipt in Japanese, to 
which the interpreter added a Dutch translation, which translated 
literally into English was as follows : 

“ The letter of the President of the United States of Noi’th America, and 
copy, are hereby received and delivered to the emperor. Many times it has 
been communicated that business relating to foreign counti'ies cannot be 
transacted here in Ui'agawa, but in Nagasaki. Now, it has been observed 
that the admiral, in his quality of ambassador of the president, -would 
be insulted by it; the justice of this has been acknowledged ; consequently 
the abovementioned letter is hereby received, in opposition to the Japanese 
law. 

“ Because the place is not designed to treat of anything from foreigners, 
so neither can conference nor entertainment take place. The letter being 
received, you will leave here.” 

The commodore remarked, when this receipt was delivered to him, 
that he should return again, probably in April or May, for an an¬ 
swer. “With all the ships?” asked the interpreter. “Yes, and 
probably with more,” was the reply. Nothing more was said on 
either side. As the commodore departed, the commissioners rose 
and remained standing, and so the interview ended, without a single 
word uttered on their part. 

The Japanese officers of the town, with the Japanese interpreters, 
accompanied the American party back to the Susquehanna, whose 
machinery they examined with much interest. When off the town, 
they were set ashore ; but the steamers, to show how lightly the 
injunction to leave was regarded, proceeded up the bay, and anch¬ 
ored a short distance above the point reached by the Mississippi. 
In spite of the solicitude of the Japanese officers, who came again 
on board, the whole bight between the promontory of Uragawa and 
another north of it was carefully surveyed. At the head a river 
was found. The shores were studded with villages, whose inhab¬ 
itants offered to the surveying party cold water, and peaches from 



perry’s second visit. 


519 


their gardens. To the place where the steamers lay the name was 
given of “ American anchorage.” 

The next day (Friday, the 15th), the Mississippi proceeded on 
an excursion ten miles further up, and reached, as was supposed, 
within eight or ten miles of the capital. On the western shore 
were seen two large towns. On the extremity of a cape in front, 
some four miles distant, stood a tall white tower, like a light-house. 
Three or four miles beyond was a crowd of shipping, supposed to be 
the anchorage of Sinagawa, the southern suburb of Jedo. At 
the point where the steamer put about, she had twenty fathoms of 
water. On Saturday, the 16th, the vessels moved to a new anchor¬ 
age, five or six miles down the bay, and much nearer the shore, 
and here the surveying operations were renewed. ' The same day 
an interchange of presents took place with Yezaimon, who, how¬ 
ever, was induced to accept those offered to him only by the posi¬ 
tive refusal of his own, except on that condition. Thus pressed, he 
finally took them, except some arms — articles, he said, which the 
Japanese neither gave nor received. In the afternoon he came 
again, in excellent humor, his conduct probably having been 
approved on shore, bringing a quantity of fowls, in light wicker 
coops, and three or four thousand eggs, in boxes, for which a box 
of garden-seeds was accepted in return. 

The next day, 17th, and the tenth since their arrival, the vessels 
weighed and stood for Lew Chew, the bay being covered with 
boats, to witness their departure.^ 

Commodore Perry spent the remainder of the year on the coast 
of China, keeping one vessel, however, at Lew Chew, and prosecut¬ 
ing the survey of the Bonin Islands. Shortly after his visit, the 
Siogun died, and an attempt was made to take advantage of that 
circumstance to delay or prevent the return of the American ships. 
A communication, forwarded to Batavia by the Dutch ship that 
left Nagasaki in November, and communicated by the Dutch gov¬ 
ernor-general at Batavia to the commodore, represented that the 
necessary mourning for the deceased sovereign, and other arrange¬ 
ments consequent on his death, as well as the necessity of consulting 

* The account of this visit is drawn partly from Commodore Perry’s official 
report, and partly from the letters of Lieutenant Contee and others, pub¬ 
lished in the newspapers. 





JAPAxN. —A. I>. 1817—1»54. 


02U 


all the princes, must necessarily delay the answer to the president’s 
letter, and suggested the danger of confusion, or “broil,” should the 
squadron come back at so unseasonable a moment. 

Undeterred, however, by this representation, on the 12th of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1854, Commodore Perry reappeared in the bay of Jedo, 
with three steam frigates, four sloops-of-war, and two store-ships, 
and the steamers taking the sailing vessels in tow, they all moved 
up to the American anchorage. 

About two weeks were spent here in fixing upon a place to 
negotiate, the Japanese importuning the commodore to go back to 
Kama Kura, twenty miles below Uragawa, or, at least, to the latter 
place, while he insisted upon going to Jedo. As he declined to 
yield, and caused the channel lo be sounded out within four miles 
of Jedo, they proposed, as the place of meeting, the village of Yo¬ 
kohama, containing about ten thousand people, and situated on the 
shore, just opposite the anchorage of the ships. To this the com¬ 
modore agreed, and the ships drew in and moored in line, with 
broadsides bearing upon the shore, and covering an extent of five miles. 

“ On the 8th of March,” says a letter dated on board the Van- 
dalia, and published in the New York Journal of Commerce^ “ the 
day appointed for the first meeting, about nine hundred ofiicers, 
seamen and marines, armed to the teeth, landed, and, with drums 
beating and colors flying, were drawn up on the beach, ready to 
receive the commodore. As soon as he stepped on shore the bands 
struck up, salutes were fired, the marines presented arms, and, fol¬ 
lowed by a long escort of ofiicers, he marched up between the lines 
and entered the house erected by the Japanese expressly for the oc¬ 
casion. Thousands of Japanese soldiers crowded the shore and the 
neighboring elevations, looking on with a good deal of curiosity and 
interest. The house was nothing but a plain frame building, hastily 
put up, containing one large room — the audience hall — and sev¬ 
eral smaller, for the convenience of attendants, &c. The floor was 
covered with mats, and very pretty painted screens adorned the 
sides. Long tables and benches, covered with red woollen stuff, 
placed parallel to each other, three handsome braziers, filled with 
burning charcoal, on the floor between them, and a few violet- 
colored crape hangings suspended from the ceiling, completed the 
furniture of the room. As we entered we took our seats at one of 
the tables. The Japanese commissioners soon came in, and placed 




NEGOTIATION OF THE TREATY. 


521 


themselves opposite to us, at the other table; while behind us both, 
seated on the floor on their knees* (their usual position, for they 
do not use chairs), was a crowd of Japanese ofl^cers, forming the 
train of the commissioners. 

“ The business was carried on in the Dutch language, through 
interpreters, of whom they have several who speak very well, and 
two or three who speak a little English. They were on their knees, 
between the commissioners and the commodore. Our interpreter 
was seated by the side of the latter. It was curious to see the 
intolerable ceremony observed by them, quite humiliating to a dem¬ 
ocratic republican. A question proposed had to pass first through 
the interpreters, and then through several officers ascending in 
rank, before it could reach the commissioners, every one bowing his 
forehead to the floor before he addressed his superior. Refresh¬ 
ments were served in elegantly-lackered dishes; first of all, tea, 
which, as in China, is the constant beverage; then difierent kinds 
of candy and sponge cake (they are excellent confectioners, and 
very fond of sugar); lastly, oranges and a palatable liquor distilled 
from rice, called saki. A flimsy banquet like this was not very 
agreeable to such hungry individuals as we, and we were the more 
disappointed, for, the Japanese using only chopsticks, we had, pre¬ 
viously to coming ashore, taken the precaution, as we shrewdly 
thought, to provide ourselves with knives and forks. Imagine, then, 
our chagrin, when finding nothing substantial upon which to employ 
them. What was left on our plates was wrapped in paper, and given 
to us to carry away, according to the usual custom in Japan. 

“ The commissioners were intelligent-looking men, richly dressed 
in gay silk petticoat pantaloons, and upper garments resembling in 
shape ladies’ short gowns. Dark-colored stockings, and two ele¬ 
gant swords pushed through a twisted silk girdle, finished the cos¬ 
tume. Straw sandals are worn, but are always slipped ofiF upon 
entering a house. They do not cover the head, the top and front 
part of which is shaved, and the back and side hair, being brought 
up, is tied so as to form a tail, three or four inches long, that ex¬ 
tends forward upon the bald pate, terminating about half way 
between the apex and the forehead. It is a very comfortable 

* Rather on their heels. 

44 * 





522 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1817—1854. 


fasliion, and, were it not for the quantity of grease used in dressing 
it, ivouid be a very cleanly one. 

“ Two audiences a week were held, at which the same programme 
was performed as related above, except that we fared more luxu¬ 
riously.* Becoming better acquainted with our taste, they feasted 
us with a broth made of fish, boiled shrimps, hard-boiled eggs, and 
very good raw oysters. At one of the interviews (March 13), the 
presents from our government were delivered. They consisted of 
cloths, agricultural implements, fire-arms, &c., and a beautiful loco¬ 
motive, tender, and passenger-car, one fourth the ordinary size, 
which we put in motion on a circular track, at the rate of twenty 
miles an hour. A mile of magnetic telegraph was also erected on 
shore, and put in operation. The Japanese were more interested 
in it than anything else, but never manifested any wonder. So 
capable are they of concealing and controlling their feelings, that 
they would examine the guns, machinery, &c., of the steamers, 
without expressing the slightest astonishment. They are a much 
finer-looking race than the Chinese — intelligent, polite, and hos¬ 
pitable, but proud, licentious, unforgiving, and revengeful.” 

The death of a marine afibrded an opportunity at the first meet¬ 
ing with the commissioners, of demanding a burying-place. It 
was proposed to send the body to Nagasaki; but, as the commo¬ 
dore Avould not listen to that, a spot was assigned near one of their 
temples, and in view of the ships, where the body was buried, with 
all the forms of the English church service, after which the Japan¬ 
ese surrounded the grave with a neat enclosure of bamboo. 

A formal letter of reply to the propositions contained in the let¬ 
ters delivered at the former visit, repeated the story of a change of 
succession, and the necessity of delays. The justice, however, of 
the demands in relation to shipwrecked seamen, wood, water, pro¬ 
visions, and coal, was conceded; but five years were asked before 
opening a new harbor, the Americans, in the mean time, to resort to 
Nagasaki. 

Of Nagasaki, however, the commodore would not hear, nor of 
any restrictions like those imposed on the Dutch and Chinese at 

* The number of American ofiScers present at these interviews was from 
twenty to fifty. 



THE TREATY AS AGREED TO. 


623 


that port. He demanded three harbors, one in Nipon, one in 
Jeso, and a third in Lew Chew. As to the two last, the Japanese 
pleaded that thej were very distant countries, and only partially 
subject to the emperor, especially the last, upon which the commo¬ 
dore did not insist. In Nipon he asked for Uragawa, and for 
Matsmai in Jeso, but acceded to the Japanese offer of Simoda and 
Hakodade, having first sent a ship to examine the former. 

The commissioners were exceedingly tenacious, even upon points 
of phraseology, but gave evidence of acting in entire good faith, 
and the commodore conceded everything which did not seem abso¬ 
lutely essential. The extent of the liberty to be allovred to Amer¬ 
ican visitors was one of the greatest difficulties. 

Shortly before the treaty was concluded, the commodore gave an 
entertainment on board the Powhatan to the Japanese oflicials, 
about seventy in all. In conformity to their customs, two tables 
were spread, one in the cabin for the commissioners and the cap¬ 
tains of the ffeet, another on deck for the inferior officers. “ They 
did full justice,” says the letter-writer already quoted, “ to Ameri¬ 
can cookery, and were exceedingly fond of champagne, under the 
influence of which they became so very merry and familiar that one 
of them vigorously embraced the commodore, who, until his epaulets 
began to suffer in the struggle, was very good-naturedly disposed to 
endure it.” 

Three copies of the treaty, in Japanese, signed by the commis¬ 
sioners, were delivered to the commodore, for which he exchanged 
three copies in English, signed by himself, with Dutch and Chinese 
translations. This method was adopted to satisfy the commission¬ 
ers, who alleged that no Japanese could lawfully put his name to 
any document written in a foreign language. The treaty was as 
follows : — 

“ The United States of America and the Empire of Japan, desiring to estab¬ 
lish firm, lasting, and sincere friendship between the two nations, have re¬ 
solved to fix, in a manner clear and positive, by means of a treaty or general 
convention of peace and amity, the rules which shall in future be mutually 
observed in the intercourse of their respective countries ; for which most de¬ 
sirable object, the President of the United States has conferred full powers 
on his commissioner, Matthew Galbraith Perry, special Ambassador of the 
United States to Japan ; and the august Sovereign of Japan has given similar 





524 


JAPAN. -A. D. 1817—1854. 


full powers to his commissioners, Hayashi-Daigaku-no-kami, Ido, prince of 
Tsus-Sima, Izawa, prince of Mimasaki, and Udono, member of the Board 
of Revenue. 

“ And the said commissioners, after having exchanged their said full 
powers, and duly considered the premises, have agreed to the following 
articles : 

“ Article I. —There shall be a perfect, permanent, and universal peace, 
and a sincere and cordial amity, between the United States of America on 
the one part, and between their people, respectfully [respectively], without 
exception of persons or places. 

“ Article II, — The port of Simoda, in the principality of Idzu, and the 
port of Hakodade, in the principality of Matsmai, are granted by the Japan¬ 
ese as ports for the reception of American ships, where they can be supplied 
with wood, water, provisions, and coal, and other articles their necessities 
may require, as far as the Japanese have them. The time for opening the 
first-named port is immediately on signing this treaty ; the last-named port 
is to be opened immediately after the same day in the ensuing Japanese 
year. 

“ Note. —A tariff of prices shall be given by the Japanese officers of the 
things which they can furnish, payment for which shall be made in gold and 
silver coin. 

“Article III. — Whenever ships of the United States are thrown or 
wrecked on the coast of Japan, the Japanese vessels will assist them, and 
carry their crews to Simoda or Hakodade, and hand them over to their coun¬ 
trymen appointed to receive them. Whatever articles the shipwrecked men 
may have preserved shall likewise be restored ; and the expenses incurred in 
the rescue and support of Americans and Japanese who may thus be thrown 
upon the shores of either nation are not to be refunded. 

“Article IV.—Those shipwrecked persons, and other citizens of the 
United States, shall be free as in other countries, and not subjected to con¬ 
finement, but shall be amenable to just laws. 

“ Article V. — Shipwrecked men, and other citizens of the United States, 
temporarily living at Simoda and Hakodade, shall not be subject to such re¬ 
strictions and confinement as the Dutch and Chinese are at Nagasaki ; but 
shall be free at Simoda to go where they please within the limits of seven 
Japanese miles (or ri) from a small island in the harbor of Simoda, marked 
on the accompanying chart, hereto appended ; and shall, in like manner, be 
free to go where they please at Hakodade, within limits to be defined after 
the visit of the United States squadron to that place. 

“ Article VI. — If there be any other sort of goods wanted, or any busi¬ 
ness which shall require to be arranged, there shall be careful delibei'ation 
between the parties in order to settle such matters. 

“ Article VII. —It is agreed that ships of the United States resorting to 
the ports open to them, shall be permitted to exchange gold and silver coin, 
and articles of goods, for other articles of goods, under such regulations 




TREATY. 


525 


as shall be temporarily established by the Japanese government for that 
purpose. It is stipulated, however, that the ships of the United States 
shall be permitted to carry away whatever articles they are unwillino- to 
exchange. ® 

“Article VIII. —Wood, water, provisions, coal, and goods required, 
shall only be procured through the agency of Japanese officers appointed for 
that purpose, and in no other manner. 

“ Article IX. — It is agreed, that if, at any future day, the government 
of Japan shall grant to any other nation or nations privileges and advan¬ 
tages which are not herein granted to the United States and the citizens 
thereof, that these same privileges and advantages shall be granted like¬ 
wise to the United States and to the citizens thereof without any consultation 
or delay. 

“ Article X. — Ships of the United States shall be permitted to resort to 
no other ports in Japan but Simoda and Ilakodade, unless in distress or 
forced by stress of weather. 

“Article XI.—There shall be appointed by the government of the 
United States consuls or agents to reside in Simoda, at any time after the 
expiration of eighteen months from the date of the signing of this treaty ; 
provided that either of the two governments deem such arrangement neces¬ 
sary. 

“Article XII. — The present convention, having been concluded and 
duly signed, shall be obligatory, and faithfully observed by the United 
States of America and Japan, and by the citizens and subjects of each re¬ 
spective power ; and it is to be ratified and approved by the President of the 
United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and 
by the august Sovereign of Japan, and the ratification shall be exchanged 
within eighteen months from the date of the signature thereof, or sooner if 
practicable. 

“ In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries of the United 
States of America and the empire of Japan, aforesaid, have signed and sealed 
these presents. 

“ Done at Kanagawa,* this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our 
Lord Jesus Christ one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and of Kayei 
the seventh year, third month, and third day.” 

The clay after the signing of the treaty a number of presents 
were sent on board for the president, the commodore, and other 
officers of the sc|uadron. 

* The treaty is dated at Kanagawa, probably because it was the nearest 
town. See Kampfer’s mention of it, p. 358. Mr. Bidinger, chaplain of the 
squadron, in one of his excursions on shore, managed to reach and pass 
through it. He found it a large town. 





526 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


In agreeing to negotiate at Yokohama, Commodore Perry had 
stated his intention to carry the ships, at some future time, close 
up to Jedo, and to anchor them there, “ as well to do honor to his 
imperial majesty by salutes as- to be in full view of the palace, and 
convenient to be visited by such of the court as may desire to ex¬ 
am iiiQ, the steamers.” Accordingly, on the 8th of April, to the 
great distress of the Japanese officials, he got under way ; but, as 
the Japanese interpreters threatened to cut themselves open if 
he proceeded, he presently turned about and took a low'er anchor¬ 
age down the bay. The published official letters of the commander 
say nothing of this movement; the letters from the fleet, published 
in the newspapers, do not agree as to how far up the commodore 
went. According to one letter, Jedo was full in sight. 

On the 18th of April the fleet sailed for Simoda, one of the ports 
granted in the treaty, of which a letter dated on board the Pow¬ 
hatan, and published in the New York Tribune, gives this account: 

“ Simoda is situated near Cape Pogu, sixty miles west from Point 
Sagami, at the entrance of the bay of Yedo. It is a good, commo¬ 
dious harbor, well sheltered by hills several hundred feet high, with 
a rock within the entrance which affords a still more protected 
anchorage. The towm, of about one thousand houses, is situated at 
the north-western end of the harbor, on the banks of a small stream 
flowing down through a fertile valley, which is often not more than 
half a mile wide, but sometimes widens to one and a half miles. 
Several little brooks offer good watering-places for the ships. The 
larger Japanese junks mostly anchor at Kakizaki, a village of about 
three hundred houses, on the north-eastern end and opposite Simoda. 
There are eight temples, some of which are very large, in the town, 
and little chapels {mia) on almost every eminence, and by the road¬ 
sides. 

“ The country is exceedingly picturesque, and resembles very 
much the lower ranges of the Alps. Along the little river of 
Simoda are many villages, and numbers of rice-mills stamp and 
grind along its banks. About six miles above the bay this river 
separates into several branches. Following either of them, you pass 
through numerous gorges and glens, and finally reach the barren 
tops of mountains, some three thousand feet high. Their summits 
and the narrow table lands are covered with bushy grass, among 



SIMODA AND ITS VICINITY. 


527 


which a certain berry, upon which pheasants and partridges feed, 
grows very plentifully. 

“ In one of the larger temples a place has been arranged for the 
daguerreotype, and Mr. Brown is actively at work. He has ob¬ 
tained many very fine daguerreotypes of the Japanese, and will 
have a fine collection to show when he reaches home. Mr. Heine 
continues his sketching, drawing, painting, gunning, skinning, press¬ 
ing, and preserving plants. Lieutenants Murray, Bent, Whiting, 
Nicholson, etc. etc., have been busily engaged in the survey, and 
deserve no small credit for their exertions and the important 
results they have obtained.” 

Of this visit to Simoda, the officer of the Vandalia already quoted 
thus speaks : 

“ Here we were permitted to go on shore and ramble about in a 
circuit for ten miles, much to our delight, as we all felt the want 
of exercise. Excepting at Yokohama, where we were not allowed 
to go far from the audience house, we had not been on shore since 
we left Lew Chew. They watched us very closely at first, sending 
guards of soldiers to accompany us, shutting the shops, and conceaL 
ing the women; but in a few days these restrictions were removed, 
and we were left undisturbed to wander where we pleased. The 
town, containing eight thousand people, is pleasantly situated in a 
well-cultivated valley, surrounded by high hills that conceal from 
view the entrance to its safe and picturesque harbor. The streets 
are wide and straight, and the better class of houses two stories 
high, plastered, and roofed with elegant tiles.* The interior is kept 
very clean and neat, and the rooms, covered with mats, are separ¬ 
ated from each other by sliding screens, that are closed or removed 
at pleasure. There are no chimneys in Japan. A charcoal fire is 
built in a little sand-pit in the middle of the floor, around which 
the family are usually found seated on their knees [qu. heels?], 
drinking tea and smoking their pipes. Not a chair or any other 
piece of furniture can be seen. Tubs of water are kept in front of 
each house, as well as on the roofs, in readiness against any fire, 
for conflagrations are so frequent and extensive, that whole towns 
are sometimes burnt down. 

* See, as to the roofs in Hakodade, p. 629, and employ these two passages 
to reconcile the discrepancy noticed on p. 297, note. 





528 


JAPAN.—A. D. 1817—1854. 


“ The temples, chiefly Buddhist, are beautifully situated in the 
suburbs. The entrance to them leads generally through rows of 
elegant trees and wild camelias. They are large, plain structures, 
with high peaked roofs, resembling the houses jjictured on Chinese 
porcelain. In the space immediately in front is a large bell for 
summj)iiing the faithful, a stone reservoir of holy water, and several 
roughly-hewn stone idols. The doorway is ornamented with curi¬ 
ous-looking dragons and other animals, carved in wood. Upon 
entering, there is nothing special about the buildings worth noting, 
the naked sides and exposed rafters having a gloomy appearance. 
The altar is the only object that attracts attention. It so much 
resembles the Homan Catholic, that I need not describe it. Some 
of the idols on these altars are so similar to those I have seen in 
the churches in Italy, that if they were mutually translated I doubt 
whether either set of worshippers would discover the change. The 
priests count beads, shave their heads, and wear analogous robes, 
and the service is attended by the ringing of bells, the lighting of 
candles, and the burning of incense. In fact, except that the cross 
is nowhere to be seen, one could easily imagine himself within a 
Homan Catholic place of worship. 

“ I saw some very pretty girls here. They understand the art of 
applying rouge and pearl powder, as well as some of our ladies at 
home. The married women have a horrid and disgusting fashion 
of staining their teeth black.” 

After remaining three weeks at Simoda, which soon after was 
made an imperial city, the sailing-vessels departed for Hakodade, 
followed a few days after by the steamers. Of the island of Oosi- 
ma, near the entrance of the bay of Jedo, and close to which the 
Powhatan passed, the Tribune correspondent gives the following 
description : 

“ About noon we were within three miles of the island of Oosima, 
and had a fine opportunity of observing the traces of volcanic action 
which it presents. The whole island is one immense volcano, the 
top of which has fallen in and formed a great basin, which inces¬ 
santly belches forth white smoke and ashes. The edges of the 
crater are black, as if charred by fire, and on the south-western 
side of the island a stream of lava reaches from the summit to the 
sea. Some large crevices continue still smoking, and others are 



HAKODADE. 


529 


filled with ashes. A bluff near the sea, about two hundred feet 
high, appears to be of recent formation, for the bushes and trees 
along the edges of the lava have a yellow, burnt appearance. The 
slopes of the mountain are covered with luxuriant vegetation ; and 
there are two towns, one on a narrow table-land, and the other on 
the top of a steep cliff, near a suspicious-looking crater. •There 
is said to be a third village on the north-western side of the 
island.”* 

Of Hakodade, in the island of Matsmai, already known to us 
by Grolownin’s description, which the squadron visited in the month 
of May, the same letter affords the following account: 

“ Hakodade is another Gibraltar. It has the same loner, low 
isthmus, ending in the same mighty rock, with another city sitting 
at its feet. The bay is seven or eight miles wide, with an entrance 
of two or three miles in width ; it is deep enough for ships-of-the- 
line to approach within a mile of the shore, and its clayey bottom, 
free from rocks or shoals, affords excellent anchorage, while it is 
defended from the sea by a sand-bank, a prolongatiqn of the isthmus. 
Behind the bay the land is quite level, but at the distance of six or 
eight miles it rises into a range of hills from one to three thousand 
feet high. These hills, still covered with snow, send down several 
streams to the bay, furnishing the best of water for ships. The 
plain is finely cultivated, and fishing villages line the shore. We 
took fish plentifully, — one day twenty buckets, with more thair 
twenty fine salmon, some weighing fifteen pounds. 

“ The city has, I should guess, about four thousand houses, and 
perhaps five times as many inhabitants. ' The two main streets are 
parallel, and run along the foot of the mountain. Narrower streets 
run from the wharves up the mountain, crossing both the principal 
sti*eets, one of which is about thirty feet higher than the other. 
The lower of these is almost as broad as Broadway, and infinitely 
cleaner. The houses on it are well built; most of them have two 
stories, with shops on the ground floor. The manner of building 
reminds one very strongly of Switzerland. A flat, projecting roof 
is covered with shingles, which are fastened by long poles, with 
stones laid upon them ; broad galleries run quite around the upper 

* There is a volcanic island similar to this, off the south coast of Satsuma, 
and another near Firando. 

45 



530 


JAPAN. 


A. D. 1817—1854. 


story; before the door is a little wooden porch; this, too, with pro¬ 
jecting gable, which, as well as the pillars that support it, are often 
adorned with rich carving. The temples, one of which is at least 
two hundred and fifty feet square, are profusely ornamented with 
carvings. Dragons, horses, bulls and hares, figure largely, but tor¬ 
toises and cranes carry the day.” 

From Hakodade, where the intercourse with the local officials 
was entirely satisfactory, the ships returned to Simoda, where, 
according to an appointment previously made, the commodore met 
the four commissioners, and three new ones, with whom he pro¬ 
ceeded to negotiate the following Additional Regulations : 

“ Article I. — The imperial governors of Simoda will place watch-stations 
wherever they deem best, to designate the limits of their jurisdiction ; but 
Americans are at liberty to go through them, unrestricted, within the limits 
of seven Japanese ri, or miles [equal to sixteen English miles] ; and those 
who are found transgressing Japanese laws may be apprehended by the police 
and taken on board their ships. 

“ Article II. —Three landing-places shall be constructed for the boats of 
merchant ships and whale ships resorting to this port; one at Simoda, one 
at Kakizaki, and the third at the brook lying south-east of Centre Island. 
The citizens of the United States will, of course, treat the Japanese officers 
with proper respect. 

“ Article III. —Ameidcans, when on shore, are not allowed access to mil¬ 
itary establishments, or private houses, without leave ; but they can enter 
shops and visit temples as they please. 

“ Article IV. — Two temples, the Rioshen at Simoda, and the Yokushen 
at Kakizaki, are assigned as resting-places for persons in their walks, until 
public houses and inns are erected for their convenience. 

“ Article V. — Near the Temple Yokushen, at Kakizaki, a burial-ground 
has been set apart for Americans, where their graves and tombs shall not be 
molested. 

“ Article VI. — It is stipulated in the treaty of Kanagawa, that coal will 
be furnished at Hakodade ; but as it is very difficult for the Japanese to sup¬ 
ply it at that port. Commodore Perry promises to mention this to his govern¬ 
ment, in order that the Japanese government may be relieved from the obli¬ 
gation of making that port a coal depot, 

“ Article VII. — It is agreed that henceforth the Chinese language shall 
not be employed in official communications between the two governments, 
except when there is no Dutch interpreter. 

“ Article VIII. — A harbor-master and three skilful pilots have been 
appointed for the port of Simoda. 

“ Article IX. — Whenever goods are selected in the shops, they shall be 





MONETARY SYSTEM. 


531 


marked with the name of the purchaser and the price agreed upon, and then 
be sent to the Goyoshi, or government office, where the money is to be paid 
to Japanese officers, and the articles delivered by them. 

“ Article X. — The shooting of birds and animals is generally forbidden 
in Japan, and this law is therefore to be observed by all Americans. 

“ Article XL — It is hereby agreed that five Japanese ri, or miles, be the 
limit allowed to Americans at Hakodade, and the requirements contained in 
Article I. of these Regulations are hereby made also applicable to that port 
within that distance. 

“ Article XII. — His Majesty the Emperor of Japan is at liberty to appoint 
whoever he pleases to I'eceive the ratification of the treaty of Kanagawa, and 
give an acknowledgment on his part. 

“ It is agreed that nothing herein contained shall in any way affect or 
modify the stipulations of the treaty of Kanagawa, should that be found to 
be contrary to these regulations.” 

Another important matter, in which the Japanese seem entirely 
to have carried the day, was the settlement of the value of the 
American coins to be received in payment for goods and supplies — 
a subject referred to a commission composed of two United States 
pursers and nine Japanese. 

The Japanese circulating medium was found to consist of old kas, 
round, with a square hole in the middle, like the Chinese cash, but 
thinner, and containing more iron; of four-kas pieces, in weight 
equal to less than two of the others, probably Kampfer’s double 
seni; but principally of a new coin rated at one hundred kas,— 
apparently a substitute for the strings of kas mentioned by Kamp- 
fer and others. These are oval-shaped pieces of copper, about the 
size and shape of a longitudinal section of an egg, introduced within 
a recent period, and weighing only as much as seven of the old kas 
(or, compared with our cents, a little less than two of them). This 
over-valuation has, of course, driven the old kas out of circulation, 
and made this depreciated coin the integer of the currency. At 
the same time, it has raised the nominal value of everything, as is 
evident in the case of silver and gold. Instead of one thousand kas 
to the tael of silver, the rate in former times, the government, which 
appears to have the monopoly of the mines, sells silver bullion for 
manufacturing use at two thousand two hundred and fifty kas for 
the tael, — a rate fixed probably under some less depreciated state 
of the currency. But when coined, a tael’s weight of silver is reck¬ 
oned in currency at six thousand four hundred kas, that is, at six 



JAPAN. 


A. D. 1817—1854. 


f;y.> 

Ooij 


tael and four mas, or precisely the valuation, in Kiimpfer’s^ time, 
of the gold kobang; and as the inchebu of his day, that is, one 
fourth part, as the word signifies in Japanese, represented six¬ 
teen hundred kas in real weight of silver, so the inchebu of the 
present day, of which there is both a silver and a gold one, 
represents sixteen hundred kas of currency. The bullion price 
of gold in Japan is only eight and a half times that of silver 
instead of sixteen times, as with us; while in currency the differ¬ 
ence in value is only about as one to three and a half, the price in 
silver, or copper hundred-kas pieces, of a tael’s weight of gold bul¬ 
lion being nineteen tael, and the same when coined passing as 
twenty-three taels, seven mas and five kanderin.^ Besides the 
gold inchebu, the Japanese are represented as having three other 
gold coins, thin, oval pieces, of the currency value respectively of 
one, ten and twenty tael also a coin,^ made of gold and silver, 
worth half an inchebu, or eight hundred-kas pieces, and a small 
silver piece, worth a quarter of an inchebu, or four hundred-kas 
pieces. 

* It is said that these coin are called kobang, but that ancient name can 
hardly be applied at the same time to three coins, of such different values. 
The old kobang of Kampfer would be worth at present rates about eleven 
tael; the new kobang of 1708 not quite six tael. For the above amount of 
the Japanese coins and monetary system, on which subject the official report 
of the two American commissioners is rather blind, I have been much 
indebted to an elaborate paper on the trade to Japan, written by S. Wells 
Williams, the Chinese interpreter to the embassy, and originally published 
in the A'. Y. Times. No person in the fleet was so well prepared by pre¬ 
vious studies and the experience of a long residence in China and familiarity 
with Chinese literature to make intelligent observations in Japan ; and some 
very valuable extracts from the article above referred to make up Note G of 
the Appendix. Japan has, like Europe, its numismatology.^ Jancigny men¬ 
tions a Japanese treatise on this subject, published at Yedo in 1822, in seven 
volumes, which describes five hundred and fifty coins, with colored prints 
(the color being given in the impression) of most of them. The Japanese 
coins are not struck, but cast in a mould. They are, however, exceedingly 
well finished, and the impression sharp. Siebold speaks of halfs, quarters, 
and sixteenths of a kobang in gold ; and of eighths and sixteenths of a 
kobang in silver ; and, according to his account, there are in some provinces 
seni and eighths of a kobang in paper notes. This practice might have been 
borrowed from the Chinese — paper money being one of the numerous in¬ 
ventions in which they anticipated us of the West. 





PILOTAGE. — COAL. 


533 


The Japanese commissioners insisted that our coin was but bul¬ 
lion to them, the effect of which is to put our silver dollar, so far 
as payments in Japan are concerned, precisely on a level with 
their silver inchebu, which weighs only one third as much. Our 
gold coins, compared with their gold coins, stand better, the relative 
weight of our gold dollar and their gold inchebu being as 65.33 to 
52.25 ; but as the copper hundred-kas piece is their standard, and 
as its value in relation to gold is rated so much higher than with 
us, our gold dollar, estimated in this way, becomes worth only eight 
hundred and thirty-six kas, or little more than eight and a third 
hundred-kas pieces, or not much more than half an inchebu; the 
effect of all which is to give the Japanese government, through 
whose hands all payments are made, a profit, after recoinage, of 
sixty-six per cent, upon all payments in American coin. As the 
Japanese commissioners would not depart from this scheme, the 
commission dissolved without coming to any agreement on this 
point. But the supplies furnished to the squadron were paid for 
at the rate insisted upon by the Japanese; nor can private traders, 
as matters stand, expect any better terms. 

The rates of pilotage at Simoda were fixed at fifteen dollars for 
vessels drawing over eighteen feet, five dollars for vessels drawing 
less than thirteen feet, and ten dollars for those of intermediate 
size; only half of these rates to be paid in case of anchorage 
in the outer harbor. Water was to be furnished at fourteen 
hundred kas the boat-load, the ship finding casks. Wood was to 
be delivered on board at seven thousand two hundred kas per cube 
of five American feet. 

The price put by the Japanese upon a few tons of inferior coal, 
brought to Simoda, amounted, at their rate of exchange, to twenty- 
eight dollars the ton. It did not appear that coal was anywhere 
else mined except at the spot visited by Kampfer and Siebold near 
Kokura, and another mine in the province of Awa, in the island 
Sikokf. 

The business thus completed, a parting entertainment was given 
on board the Mississippi; and, after an interchange of presents, the 
vessels, on the 26th of June, took their departure. Stopping at 
Lew Chew, Commodore Perry negotiated a compact with the author- 
45* 



534 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


itics of that island, which, from all the information he could obtain, 
he concluded to be a nearly independent sovereignty. 

Within fifteen days after Commodore Perry’s departure from 
Simoda, the clipper ship Lady Pierce, from San Francisco, fitted 
out for the express purpose of being the first American ship to 
arrive in Japan after the opening of commercial relations, entered 
the bay of Jedo, with the owner, Silas E. Burrows, on board. 

He had with him a Japanese seaman, the sole survivor of a crew 
of fifteen men, belonging to a junk which had been blown out to sea, 
and was picked up near the Sandwich Islands, after having drifted 
about for seven months. This man, who is represented as quite 
intelligent, and who had resided for some time at San Francisco, 
was received with lively demonstrations of pleasure by his country¬ 
men. 

With a party of the Uragawa officials on board, the Lady Pierce 
proceeded to within ten miles of Jedo, and her owners expressed a 
desire to anchor off that city; but this was objected to by the offi¬ 
cers, who said, “ It is not good ; Commodore Perry did not go there, 
and we hope you will not.” 

During the stay of the vessel, every part of her was crowded with 
visitors; and although at one time there must have been several 
thousands in and around the ship, and although everything, silver¬ 
ware included, was thrown open to their inspection, not a single 
article was stolen. 

Large presents of silk, porcelain, lackered ware, &c., were made 
to Mr. Burrows, who, however, was informed that henceforward 
no foreign intercourse would be permitted with Jedo, but that all 
vessels must proceed either to Simoda or Hakodade. Mr. Bur¬ 
rows himself proceeded to Simoda, but does not seem to have 
formed a very high idea of the prospects of trade there.* 

* The following is given in the San Francisco Herald as a copy of the 
address presented to Mr. Burrows on this occasion : 

“ With pleasure we welcome you to Jedo Bay, and in doing so, can assure 
you that your ship, the Lady Pierce, is the first foreign vessel that has been 
received by us with pleasure. 

“ Commodore Perry brought with him too many large guns and fighting 
men to be pleasing to us ; but you have come in your beautiful ship, which 
is superior to any we have before seen, to visit us, without any hostile 




THIRD VISIT OF THE AMERICAN STEAMERS. 535 


On the 18th of September, the steam-fi-igate Susquehanna again 
appeared at Simoda, on her way home via the Sandwich Islands, 
followed on the 21st by the Mississippi; three days after which, the 

weapons, and the Emperor has ordered that you shall have all the kindness 
and liberty extended to you that Commodore Perry received. 

“ You have, Mr. Burrows, come here, relying on our friendship and hos¬ 
pitality, and we assure you that, although we have been shut out for ages 
from other nations of the world, yet you shall bear with you, when returning 
to your country, the knowledge that our Emperor and the Japanese his sub¬ 
jects will never fail of extending protection to those who come as you do to 
Japan. But the Emperor is particularly desirous that you should extend 
the terms of the treaty made with Commodore Perry, wherever you may go, 
to prevent any more ships coming to Jedo Bay, as all must hereafter go to 
Simoda or Hakodade. 

“ It has given the Emperor and all the Japanese great pleasure that you 
have returned to Japan our countryman, Dee-yee-no-skee, who was ship¬ 
wrecked, and who has been residing for some time in your country, where 
he states he has been treated with the greatest kindness, and particularly so 
on board your ship, the Lady Pierce. That you should have made a voyage 
to Japan to restore him to his friends and home, without any other induce¬ 
ment, as you say, except to see Japan, and to form a friendship with us, 
merits and will ever receive our most friendly feelings ; and, be assured, if 
any of your countrymen, or other people, are shipwrecked on our shores, wo 
will extend the same kindness to them that you have to our countrymen, and 
place them at Simoda or Hakodade, and thus open to the world that our 
religion, which is so different from yours, governs the Japanese, in all their 
dealings, by as correct principles as yours governs you. We understand what 
ships of war are ; also what whaling ships and merchant ships are ; but we 
never before heard, till you came here, of such a ship as yours, — a private 
gentleman’s pleasure ship, —coming so far as you have, without any money¬ 
making business of trade, and only to see Japan, to become acquainted with 
us, and bring home one of our shipwrecked people, the first that has returned 
to his country from America or foreign lands. 

“You offer us, as presents, all the rare and beautiful articles you have in 
your ship ; but we have received orders from the Emperor that we must not 
tax your kind feelings by taking anything from you, as you have already 
been sufficiently taxed in returning Dee-yee-no-skee. 

“ The Emperor also directs that all the gold pieces you have presented to 
the Japanese must be collected and returned to you, and to say that he alone 
must make presents in Jedo Bay. He has directed presents to be made to 
you, in the Emperor’s name, by the governor of Simoda, where he desires 
you will proceed in your ship, the Lady Pierce, and land Dee-yee-no-skee, 
which will be in compliance with the treaty. 

“ Your visit to Japan in the Lady Pierce has been attended with great 




536 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1817—1854. 


Susquehanna left, and the Mississippi on the 1st of October. The 
reception given to the officers of both ships was very cordial, and 
their intercourse both with officials and the towns-people was almost 
entirely free from any marks of that restraint and apparent suspi¬ 
cion exhibited on former occasions. Besides an interchange of 
visits and dinners, several Japanese officials attended, on a Sunday, 
divine service on board the Susquehanna. 

“Many of us,” writes an officer of the Mississippi, “entered 
houses very frequently, and sat down with the people to smoke or 
drink tea. One day the sound of a guitar attracted me, and I found 
an olive girl, of some fifteen or sixteen years, who, not perceiving my 
presence, continued her play. It was a strange tune, wild and mel¬ 
ancholy, and often abruptly interrupted by harsh accords. After 
a while some women that had assembled around us made the girl 
aware of my presence; she threw down her instrument and began 
to cry, and I could not induce her to play again. The guitar was 
made of wood, with the exception of the upper lid. Of the three 
strings, two were in the octave, the middle one giving the fifth. 
The strings were not touched by the fingers, but with a flat piece 
of horn, held between the thumb and third finger of the right hand, 
in shape not unlike the one painters use to clean their palettes and 
mix their colors. 

“ On another occasion, I heard a young man playing a flute. 
This instrument was of the most primitive description, consisting 
only of a piece of hollow bamboo, bored with seven finger-holes, and 
the hole for the mouth. The tunes were very strange, and ap¬ 
peared to me more like a mass of confused sounds, than a regular 
harmony. 

“ At the beginning of the new moon, I saw in several houses a 
sort of donoestic worship. A number of women had assembled 
before the shrine of the household god, and, divided in two parties, 
were singing hymns, one party alternately answering the other. 
Their song was accompanied by strokes upon a little bell or gong, 

interest to us, and you will not be forgotten by the Japanese. We hope we 
may meet you again, and we hope you will come back to Japan. 

“ The Emperor has directed that two ships like yours shall be built, and 
we thank you for having allowed us to take drawings of the Lady Pierce, and 
of all that we desired on board.” 



SIMODA. 


537 


with a small wooden hammer; and, as the bells were of different 
tones, the effect was by no means unpleasant.” 

“ There are a number of temples near Simoda,” writes an officer 
of the Susquehanna, “ and attached to each is a grave-yard. At 
one of these, situated near a village, there is a place set apart for 
Americans. Here Dr. Hamilton was buried, being laid by the side 
of two others who had died on the second visit of the ships. Each 
grave has its appropriate stone, as with us, and by many of them 
are evergreens set in vases, or joints of bamboo, containing water. 
Cups of fresh water are also set by the graves, and to these, birds 
of dazzling plumage and delightful song come and drink. The 
graves of the Americans were not forgotten.” 

The officers were permitted to go into the country any distance 
they wished, and the country people were found pleasant and socia¬ 
ble ; but upon this second visit, the advantages of Simoda as a 
place of trade, or the prospects of traffic under the treaty, do not 
seem to have struck the visitors very favorably. “ The harbor,” 
writes an officer of the Susquehanna to the Tribune^ “ is a small 
indentation of land, running north-east and south-west, about a 
half-mile in extent, and is capable of holding five or six vessels of 
ordinary size. It is, however, entirely unprotected from the south¬ 
west winds, which bring with them a heavy sea, and which renders 
the anchorage very unsafe. With the wind from the north and the 
east, the vessel rides at her ease at her anchorage. Good wood 
and sweet water, as well as a few provisions, were obtained from 
the authorities, for the use of the ship, at the most extravagant 
prices. Numerous articles, such as lackered and China ware, of a 
very fine and delicate quality, and far superior to that manufac¬ 
tured in China, were purchased by the officers; but every article 
had to pass through the hands of the Japanese officers, and the 
amount due the merchants had to be paid, not to them, but to the 
Japanese officials who had been appointed for that very purpose 
by the mayor of the city and the governor of the province. This 
article of the treaty will be most scrupulously enforced; and this 
is decidedly its worst feature.” 

“ Simoda,” writes another officer, “ does not appear well calcu¬ 
lated, upon the whole, for a place of trade, and it can never become 
an active commercial town. Neither is it a manufacturing town. 



538 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


This, added to the fact that the harbor is a bad one, will make it 
appear evident that the Japanese commissioners got the better of 
us in the treaty, as far as this place is concerned. 

“ The surrounding country (wherever nature will permit it) is 
highly cultivated. The valley of the creek is broad and well tilled, 
yielding rice, millet, Egyptian corn and maize.* The ears produced 
by the last are very small, being not more than from two to four 
inches in length. Sweet potatoes and the egg-plant are also raised 
in great abundance. There are no horses about Simoda, and bul¬ 
locks are made to supply their places. Provisions, with the excep¬ 
tion of eggs and vegetables, cannot be obtained here. The shark 
and baiiito are the only large fish found in the harbor. Small fish 
are plentiful, and they seem to form almost the only article of food 
of the inhabitants, besides rice.” 

The following description of the houses at Simoda, by Mi*. S. 
AVells Williams, will serve to illustrate the descriptions of Japanese 
houses already given from Kiimpfer and Thunberg, and will show 
how little, as to that matter, Japan has altered since their time : 

“ The houses in Simoda are built merely of pine boards, or of 
plaster thickly spread over a wattled wall of laths, the interstices 
of which are filled in with mud. In some cases these modes of 
construction are combined — the front and rear being of boards, or 
sliding panels, and the sides of mud. When thoroughly dried, 
the mud is whitewashed, and the plain surface worked into round 
ridges, three inches high, crossing each other diagonally from 
the roof to the ground; the ridges are then washed blue, and give 
the exterior a checker-board look, which, though sin'gular, is more 
lively than a blue mud wall. The plaster is excellent, and these 
walls appear very solid and rather pretty when new; at a distance 
one would even think them to be stone; but after a few years the 
ridges loosen, the rain insinuates itself beneath the outer coating, 
and the whole begins to scale and crack off, disclosing the mud and 
rushes, and then the tenement soon falls to pieces. Still the progress 
of decay is not so rapid as one would think, judging only by 
the nature of the materials, and the walls are well protected by 
the projecting eaves. No bricks are used in building, nor are 


* This, probably, is one of the Portuguese legacies to Japan. 



SIMODA. 


539 


square tiles for floors seen; and the manner of making walls com¬ 
mon in southern China, by beating sanded clay into wooden moulds, 
is unknown. 

“ Some of the best houses and temples have stone foundations, a 
few only of which are made of dressed stone. Half a dozen or 
more store-houses occur, faced entirely with slabs of stone, and 
standing detached from other buildings, and are doubtless fire-proof 
buildings. There are no cellars under the houses; the floors are 
raised on sleepers only two feet above the beaten ground, and 
uniformly covered with straw mats stuffed with chaff, or grass, an 
inch thick. The frames are of pine, the joists four or five inches 
square, and held together by the flooring of the attic, as well as the 
plates and ridge-pole. The houses and shops join each other on the 
sides, with few exceptions, leaving the front and rear open. There 
is no uniformity in the width of the lots, the fronts of some shops 
extending twenty, thirty, or more feet along the street, while inter¬ 
mediate ones are mere stalls, not over ten feet wide. 

“ The shops succeed each other without any regular order as to 
their contents, those of the same sort not being arranged together, 
as is often the case in China. The finer wares are usually kept in 
drawers, so that, unless one is well acquainted with the place, he 
cannot easily find the goods he seeks. The eaves of the houses pro¬ 
ject about four feet from the front, and are not over eight feet from 
the ground; the porch thus made furnishes a covered place for 
arranging crockery, fruits, &c., for sale, trays of trinkets on a 
movable stall, baskets of grain, or other coarse articles, to attract 
buyers. The entrance is on one side, and the path leads directly 
through to the rear. The wooden shutters of shops are all removed 
in the daytime, and the paper windows closed, or thrust aside, 
according to the weather. On a pleasant day the doors are open, 
and in lieu of the windows a screen is hung midwa}^ so as to con¬ 
ceal the shopman and his customer from observation, while those 
goods placed on the stand are still under his eye. A case, with 
latticed or wire doors, to contain the fine articles of earthen ware, a 
framework, with hooks and shelves, to suspend iron utensils or 
wooden ware, or a movable case of drawers, to hold silks, fine 
lackered ware, or similar goods, constitute nearly all the furniture 
of the shops. Apothecaries’ shops are hung with gilded signs and 
paper placards, setting forth the variety and virtues of their medi- 



540 


JAPAN. — A. D. 1817—1854. 


cines, some of which are described as brought from Europe. The 
partition which separates the shops from the dwelling is sometimes 
closed, but more usually open; and a customer has, generally speak¬ 
ing, as much to do with the mistress as the master of the establish¬ 
ment. When he enters, his straw sandals are always left on the 
ground as he steps on the mats and squats down to look at the 
goods, which are then spread out on the floor. A foreigner has 
need of some thoughtfulness in this particular, as it is an annoyance 
to a Japanese to have his mats soiled by dirty feet, or broken 
through by coarse shoes. 

“ The rear of the building is appropriated to the family. Here 
the domestic operations are all carried on; here the family take 
their meals in the day; here, on the same mats, do they sleep at 
night; receiving visitors and dressing the children are also done here, 
and sometimes the cooking too. Usually this latter household task 
is performed in the porch in the rear, or in an out-house, so that the 
inmates are not so much annoyed with smoke as they are in Hako- 
dade. No arrangements for warming the dwelling are to be found, 
except that of hand-braziers placed in the middle of the room with 
lighted charcoal, around which the family gather. In most of the 
houses there is a garret, reached by a ladder, — a dark and small 
apartment, where some goods can be stored, or servants can be 
lodged. There is not a house in the town whose occupants have 
arranged this attic with windows and stairways to make it a 
pleasant room; a few such were, however, seen near the capital, at 
Kanagawa, and in its vicinity. 

“ The roofs of all the best buildings are hipped, and covered with 
bluish tiling, each tile being about eight inches square, shaped 
somewhat like a wedge; the thick side is so made that, when laid 
on the rafters, it laps sideways over the thin edge of the adjoining 
tile in the next row, and thus forms gutters somewhat like the 
Chinese roofs. They are washed in alternate rows of white and 
blue, which, with the checkered walls, imparts a lively aspect, and 
contrasts pleasantly with the more numerous dingy thatched roofs. 
The thatched roofs are made of a species of Arundo, grown and 
prepared for this purpose, and answering admirably as a cheap and 
light covering to the wooden tenements occupied by most of the 
people. It is matted into a compact mass eighteen inches thick, as 




SIM 0 DA. 


541 


it is laid on, and then the surface and the sides are neatly sheared. 
The ridge-pole is protected by laying the thatch over a row of hoops 
that enclose it enough to overlap the edges on both slopes, and pre¬ 
vent the rain finding entrance. One cannot feel surprise at the 
ravages fires* make in Japanese towns, where the least wind must 
blow the flame upon such straw coverings, which, like a tinder-box, 
would ignite at the first spark. Wires are stretched along the 
ridges of some of the tiled roofs in Simoda to prevent birds from 
resting on the houses. 

“ In the rear yards, attached to a large number of the dwellings, 
are out-houses, and sometimes, as in the lodging-houses, additional 
sleeping-rooms. Kitchen-gardens are not unfrequently seen, and 
more rarely fancy fish-ponds, dwarfed trees, and even stone carvings. 
A family shrine, made like a miniature house, containing images of 
penates and lares, is met with in most of the yards. Only a few 
of them are adorned with large trees, and still fewer of them 
exhibit marks of care or taste, presenting in this respect an observ¬ 
able contrast to the neatness of the houses. High hedges or stone 
walls separate these yards when they are contiguous, but the depth 
of the lots is usually insufficient to allow room for both the opposite 
dwellings the luxury of a garden. 

“ There is not much variety in the structure of the various build¬ 
ings in Simoda, and their general appearance denotes little enter¬ 
prise or wealth. The paper windows and doors, not a few of them 
dirty and covered with writing, or torn by children to take a peep 
inside, impart a monotonous aspect to the streets. Dyers’, car¬ 
penters’, blacksmiths’, stone-cutters’, and some other shops, have 
latticed fronts to admit more light, which are elevated above the 
observation of persons passing by. In front of those dwellings 
occupied by officials, a white cotton curtain, three feet wide, is 
stretched along the whole length of the porch, having the coat of 
arms of the occupant painted on it in black; the names of the 
principal lodgers are also stuck on the door-posts. Signs are mostly 
written on the doors, as the windows are drawn aside during the 
day; but only a portion of the shops have any. Lodging-houses, 
barbers’ shops, restaurants, or tea-houses, apothecaries, and a few 
others, are almost always indicated by signs. One dealer in crock¬ 
ery and lackered ware has the sign of a celebrated medicine 
46 



542 


JAPAN.-A. D. 1817—1854. 


placed on a high pole, and, the more to attract attention, has written 
the name in foreign letters. As in China, placards for medicines 
were the most conspicuous of all, but none are pasted upon blank 
walls; all are suspended in the shops. However, n^ dwelling or 
shop is left unprotected from the ill-usage of malignant spirits, 
every one having a written or printed charm or picture (sometimes a 
score or more) over the door to defend the inmates from evil.” 

In the interval between Commodore Perry’s first and second 
visits to the bay of Jedo, Nagasaki was visited by a Kussian squad¬ 
ron. On the 7th of September, 1854, just before the last visit of 
the Mississippi and Susquehanna to Simoda, a British squadron of 
three steamers and a filgate arrived at Nagasaki under Admiral 
Sterling. These British vessels, which found the annual Dutch 
trading ship, two large Chinese junks, also a Dutch steamer, lying 
in the harbor, encountered the usual reception, being served with 
notices, surrounded with boats, and denied liberty to land. At 
length, however, after a deal of negotiation and threats to proceed 
to Jedo, it was agreed to furnish supplies, tea, rice, pigs, &c., 
and to receive payment through the Dutch. On the 15th the 
admiral landed, and was conducted in state to the governor’s house. 
The guard-boats were withdrawn, and the men were allowed to 
land on an island to recreate themselves. Other interviews fol¬ 
lowed, presents were interchanged, and, on the 19th, the squadron 
left. These particulars are drawn from the published letter of 
a medical ofi&cer on board, who describes the supplies furnished 
as very good, and the Japanese soy as cheap and nice, but who 
does not seem to have relished the saki, which he likens in taste 
to acetate of ammonia water. 

The American war-steamer Powhatan, visited Simoda Febniary 
21, 1855, to complete the exchange of ratification, which done, she 
sailed again two days after. The town of Simoda was found in a 
state of desolation.and ruin, from the effects of a disastrous earth¬ 
quake, on the 23d of December previous, in which the Bussian 
frigate Diana, then lying in the harbor to complete the pending 
negotiations, was so damaged, as to have sunk in attempting to 
make a neighboring port for repairs. Osaka and Jedo were re¬ 
ported to have suffered severely, and Jedo still more from a subse¬ 
quent fire. Such is the last news from Japan. 




APPENDIX 


Note A. 

THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 

The Japanese language has been often represented as a dialect of the 
Chinese, or,* at least, as very closely related to it. This opinion, though 
totally unfounded, originated in the tacts that not only the Chinese written 
character is understood and extensively used in Japan, but that the Chinese 
spoken tongue, with a peculiar Japanese pronunciation, consisting princi¬ 
pally in the suppression of nasals, and the softening of some consonants, is 
in geneml use as a leai’ned language, holding very much the same relation 
to the vernacular that Latin did two or three centuries ago to the vulgar 
tongues of the different European nations. 

The Japanese, however, have both a spoken and a written language of 
their own, totally distinct from every other known language, polysyllabic, 
and differing much more from the Chinese than any European tongue does 
from the Latin. There are thus in Japan not only two written, but two 
spoken languages, and in the words and phrases reported by travellers in 
that country as Japanese there is a complete confusion of these two tongues. 
The same thing, indeed, is not uncommon with the Japanese themselves, 
who often employ Chinese and Japanese terms indifferently, though there are 
cases in which usage requires the one, in exclusion of the other. 

For a long time the Japanese, it is probable, had no writing, except the 
Chinese characters. Books in these characters, many of them imported from 
China, and others printed in Japan, still abound there ; but these cannot 
properly be considered as expressions of the Japanese language. Those who 
are able to read these, understand the spoken as well as the written Chinese, 
or, if there is any exception to this, in such cases the Chinese characters 
standing for ideas (or, more correctly, for words expressing ideas) will be 
read into Japanese by one who knows their significance, though not the 
Chinese sounds to which they correspond, just as a Frenchman, ignorant of 
Arabic, will read into French a table of logarithms expressed in Arabic figures, 
or as an Englishman who can read French, though ignorant of its pronunci- 



544 


APPENDIX. 


ation, will understand it, and even read it into English, though if read to 
liim by a Frenchman it would be totally unintelligible. This process of 
reading Chinese characters into Japanese is greatly facilitated by the fact 
that, though completely different in its words from the Chinese, the 
Japanese language, in general, follows, as is the case with the Mongol and 
Mandchu, and many other tongues of Eastern Asia, the same inverse order 
of construction, pbicing the attribute befoi’e the subject, the adjective before 
the substantive, the adverb before the verb, the accessory before the princi¬ 
pal, the modifying expression before the expression modified, &c. 

There is, however, a certain difficulty in representing the Japanese lan¬ 
guage by these Chinese characters, because Japanese words have many in¬ 
flections which are unknown in Chinese, and tor which the Chinese writing 
has no symbol. 

The missionary monks who transported from India to China, and from 
China to Japan, the Buddhist system of religion, carried with them, also, 
the Sanscrit language and the Dewanagari or Sanscrit alphabet, and it was 
probably to them that the Japanese were indebted, if not for the introduction 
of the Chinese writing, at least for the syllabary with which the vernacular 
language is written. This syllabary is limited to forty-seven characters, the 
precise number of the Sanscrit letters, though the number of syllabic sounds 
repi’esented is increased to a hundred and forty-four by the use of three ad¬ 
ditional signs, to be presently described. 

The syllabic sounds expressed by these forty-seven signs; arranged in per¬ 
pendicular columns, accoi’ding to the Japanese method (except that the 
Japanese begin at the right), are twice given below ; first, according to 
Klaproth ; second, according to Siebold. The discrepancies will be explained 
by the remark of Siebold, that the sound which he indicates by I is, in fact, 
a sound between I and r, inclining in some provinces more to the I, in others, 
as, for instance, at Jedo, more to r. The same is the case also with the 
letters h and/. The y in Klaproth’s column indicates and better represents 
to an English eye the same sound with the J in Siebold’s. The vowel sounds 
are those respectively of France and Germany. The ou and u indicate the 


same 

sound 

as that of our English u. 

The i represents 

our 

English 

e; the 

e our 

English a in 

fate ; 

the a our English a in far. 





i 

i 

ri 

li 

re le 

i wi 

ko 

ko 

mi 

mi 

ro 

lo 

nou 

nu 

so so 

no no 

ye 

e 

si 

si 

fa 

ha 

rou 

ru 

tsou tsu 

wo 0 

te 

te 

ye 

we 

ni 

ni 

0 

wo 

ne ne 

kou ku 

a 

a 

fi 

hi 

fo 

ho 

wa 

wa 

na na 

ya ja 

sa 

sa 

mo 

mo 

fe 

he 

ka 

ka 

ra la 

ma ma 

ki 

ki 

se 

se 

to 

to 

yo 

jo 

mou mu 

ke ke 

you ju 

sou 

su 

tsi 

tsi 

ta 

ta 

ou u 

fou fu 

me 

me 




The syllables ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, are occasionally softened into ga, gi, 
gu, ge, go ; sa, si, su, se, so, into za, zi, zu, ze, zo ; ta, tsi, tsu, te, 
and to, into da, dsi, dsu, du, do, which change is indicated by a mark, or 
accent, affixed to the characters that represent them. A similar change 




JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 


545 


(especially in foreign words) of ha, hi, hu, he, ho (written by Remusat fa, fi, 
fe, fo, fu), sometimes into the softer sounds, ba, be, bi, bu, bo, and some¬ 
times into the harder sounds, pa, pi, pu, pe, po, is indicated by another 
mark. In writing foreign words, especially from the Chinese, an additional 
character, indicating n or m final, is also employed, which sound seems, 
however, to be much oftener introduced into the spoken than the written 
language. Just as we say ABC, this collection of syllables is called, from 
the first tlu'ee, the i-ro-fa, or i-ro-ha. 

Generally, in composition, the syllables retain their full sound ; but often 
the vowel part is contracted, or elided, especially at the close of a word. 
Thus, all syllables, ending in i, followed, in composition, by syllables begin¬ 
ning withy (otherwise lose the final i: tsi-ya being pronounced ts’ya ; 
ni-yo, n’o, &c. Mi-sa is sounded mis’ ; mit-si, mits’ ; fu-tsu, futs’ ; ma- 
tsu, mats’ ; ku-wa-u, k’u ; ko-ko-ju, kok’f ’ ; fi-ya-ka, f’yak’ ; si-ya-tsu, 
s’yats’. The syllable tsu in the middle of a word, loses its own sound 
and takes that of the syllable; that follows; thus, i-tsu-ki becomes ikki ; 
i-tsu-si, issi, &c. Where the final w sound is elided, the antecedent conso¬ 
nant sound is, as it were, reduplicated, especially in the infinitive of verbs, 
of which the termination is always in u ; or if that preceding consonant be 
k, an/ sound is added to it; thus, i-do-ru becomes idorr’ ; ma-ku, makf ’ ; 
to-bu, tobb’, to indicate which reduplication a fourth sign is employed. 

As the Japanese language is made up so largely of vowels, it ought to be 
musical, and, as it is composed of so limited a number of syllables, it might 
be supposed to be easy to represent the sound of Japanese words by Euro¬ 
pean letters. But, in doing this, every writer, from the Jesuit missionaries 
downward, has been inconsistent, not only with others, but with himself. 
In addition to the difficulties growing out of the elisions, there is another in 
the peculiarities of the Japanese sounds?* 

To represent the forty-seven syllables, of which, with the variations above 
stated, their language is composed, the Japanese appear first to have em¬ 
ployed a like number of perfect Chinese characters, chosen sometimes, per¬ 
haps, with reference to their sound in Chinese, but in some cases, at least, 
with reference to the sound of the corresponding Japanese word. Thus, for 

* “ The Japanese pronunciation,” says Golownin, — who was in the constant habit of hearing 
it for two years, during which he acquired a good knowledge of the language spoiten, though 
not allowed to learn to read it, — “ is excessively difficult for us Europeans. There are sylla¬ 
bles which are not pronounced like te or de, but something between them, which we are 
quite unable to produce. In the same manner, there are middle sounds, between be and/e, 
jse and sche, ge and che, the and ee. No European would succeed in pronouncing the 
Japanese word for fire. I have studied it for two years, but in vain ; when pronounced by 
the Japanese, it seemed to sound like/, c/ii, psf,/«i, pronounced through the teeth ; but, 
however we turned and twisted our mouths about, the Japanese persisted in their‘not 
right; ’ and such words are very numerous in the Japanese language.” Siebold says that 
the spoken dialects of different provinces vary greatly. The attempts of Europeans to repre¬ 
sent Japanese words, often produce words which, on paper, have very little resemblance. 
Who would suppose that Oxu and Mouts were different attempts to represent the same 
w^ord_the name of the north-easternmost and largest province of Japan ? 

46 * 



546 


APPENDIX. 


instance, the syllable mi meaning female, the Chinese symbol for female was 

employed to represent that sound. ^ ^ ^ 

To this syllabary appears to have succeeded another, in which the Chine^ 
characters employed are considerably contracted. In a third, that in ordi¬ 
nary use, called Hira-kana, or Fira-kana, easy, or woman’s writing, the 
Chinese form of the symbols has quite disappear^. The fourth, called 
Kata-kana, is very easy, distinct, and compact. Fifteen of the symbols are 
Chinese characters still in use, among the simplest which the Chinese writ¬ 
ing affords. The others are parts of characters arbitrarily taken. The Jap - 
an'ese, who call this “ man’s writing,” have an idea that it is the oldest of 
their syllabary methods ; but had it been so, the other never would have come 
into use ; it is evidently the most recent of the whole — a kind of short¬ 
hand — and is principally used for notes and comments. Placed under above, 
or side by side, the Chinese characters, with which all Japanese books abound, 
these Kata-kana syllables indicate the corresponding Japanese word, 
the inflections which, though numerous in Japanese, are wanting in 
Chinese, or, in the case of proper names, their pronunciation. No books 
are printed in it exclusively. Japanese books, for common use, present, 
indeed, a strange intermixture of the cursive, scrambling Kata-kana, in 
which each syllable has quite a number of representations, with Chinese 
characters more or less numerous, which may or may not be explained by an 
added paraphrase in Kata-kana; and which, when once so explained, are 
often repeated without any explanation. Thus, the printing of a short Jap¬ 
anese novel, accomplished at Viennar, under the editorial care of Dr. Pfiz- 
maier — the first book in the Japanese character ever printed in Europe — 
required a fount of four hundred and eighty-one types for the Japanese syl¬ 
labary, besides two hundred and twenty-seven more for the Chinese charac¬ 
ters introduced into it. 

The higher the pretensions of a Japanese writer the more Chinese he inter 
mingles. Hence, to read Japanese books, a knowledge of Chinese is abso 
lutely necessary ; and hence it happens that Chinese scholars, like Remu 
sat, without knowing Japanese, or, like Klaproth, by knowing a little of it, 
may be able to get at least some general idea of a Japanese book, especially 
if it be a very learned one. This, however, is a precarious resource ; for 
the Japanese not only sometimes use the Chinese characters in peculiar 
senses, they have varied their forms, and have even introduced some new 
ones of their own. 

This mixed sort of writing seems to be easily enough mastered by the Jap 
anese themselves, among whom book-printing from wooden plates, and the 
art of reading, have been common from our earliest knowledge of them. But 
it puts serious obstacles in the way of learners from abroad, and gave occa¬ 
sion to the Jesuit missionaries to suspect that it had been invented by the 
devil himself, on purpose to impede the spread of the gospel. 

It is to its Chinese element that we are mainly indebted for such knowl¬ 
edge as we have yet obtained of the literature of Japan. Though so long 




JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 


647 


written and printed, and abounding in books, and once familiarly spoken 
and read by a considerable number of Europeans, and though a considerable 
number of books in it exist in European libraries, yet scarcely two or three 
European scholars are to be found who make any pretensions to be able to 
read Japanese, notwithstanding that, for two centuries and a half, there have 
not been wanting European helps to its acquisition. 

Four Japanese grammars have been published by missionaries ; that of 
Alvarez, in Latin and Japanese (De instilutione Grammaiica libri Hi., cum 
Versione Japonia), printed at Amacusa in 1593 ; that of Rodriguez, in 
Portuguese {Arte du Lingua de Japan), printed at Nagasaki in 1604 ; that 
of Collado, in Latin {Ars Grammatica Japonicee Linguie), at Rome, 1632 ; 
and that of Oyangusen, in Spanish {Arte du la Lingua Japonica), printed 
at Mexico in 1738, its author, who was a Franciscan friar, having ended his 
days there, after having been a missionary in Cochin-China, and superin¬ 
tendent of two convents in the Philippines, where it would appear that some 
knowledge of the Japanese was long preserved. 

All these grammars, composed rather with a view to Japanese as spoken 
than as written, represent the sounds in Roman letters, and attempt to apply 
grammatical ideas and forms derived from the Greek and Latin to a language 
of a totally difterent structure, thus very superfluously complicating and ob¬ 
scuring a subject difficult enough in itself. These books are also exceedingly 
rare, except that of Collado, which is both the shortest and the worst. Rod¬ 
riguez prepared at Macao, in 1620, an abridgment of his grammar, which 
remained, however, in manuscript till 1825, when, with some omissions, it was 
printed by the Asiatic Society, at Paris, in a French version, with an introduc¬ 
tion by M. Abel Remusat, the distinguished Chinese scholar ^to which, the 
next year, was added a supplement, by Baron G. de Humbolt, containing an 
account of the grammar of Oyangusen, and some observations on his points 
of agreement and disagreement, with Rodriguez, and on the Japanese 
language generally. Siebold has also published in Latin, in the transactions 
of the Dutch Academy at Batavia, in 1826, an Epitome of the Japanese lan¬ 
guage {Epitome Linguce Japonicee), and, more recently, an introduction to 
the study of Japanese books {Isagoge in Biblothecum Japonicum et studium 
Librarum Japonicum). 

Of dictionaries, or vocabularies, there are one in Latin, Portuguese and 
Japanese, a thick quarto of near a thousand pages, Amacusa, 1595 ; a vocab¬ 
ulary in Japanese and Portuguese, Nagasaki, 1606 ; one in Spanish ( Vocab- 
ulario de Japon), Manilla, 1630 ; all these exceedingly rare; Callado’s 
Thesaurus, a small Latin vocabulary, Rome, 1632 ; and Medhurst’s Eng¬ 
lish and Japanese vocabulary, Batavia, 1830, 8vo, pp. 344, containing about 
seven thousand Japanese words, compiled by the help of Chinese-Japanese 
and Japanese-Dutch dictionaries, printed in Japan. Siebold’s Thesaurus 
(Wa Kan Won Si-ki Sio-gen Ziako, Thesaurus Lingua Japonic^ seu 
illustratio omnium qua libris recepta sunt verborum ac dictionum Lo~ 
quelce tarn Japonica quam Sinensis) is but a mere transcript of a Chinese- 



548 


APPENDIX. 


Japanese work, containing a little more than twenty thousand words, with 
explanations chiefly in Chinese, and an arrangement according to subjects, 
which renders it, as a dictionary, almost useless. A dictionary, which prom¬ 
ises to be much more complete, as well as useful, is now in the course of 
publication at Vienna, by Pfizmaier, already mentioned. 

The Japanese have learned men far better acquainted with the languages 
of Europe, Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and especially Dutch, 
than Europeans are with the Japanese. In fact, the Dutch may be said to 
have, in some respects, of late years, taken rank of the Chinese, as the 
learned language of Japan; and to facilitate the study of it, at least one large 
Dutch-Japanese Dictionary has been published there. 

The nouns in the Japanese language have no discrimination of gender or 
number, though sometimes for the plural the word is repeated. To dis¬ 
tinguish the gender of animals, the Avoi'ds male and female are added to 
them, as wo-inou, male dog, me-inou, female dog. The cases are indicated 
by particles suffixed.* The adjectives (like ours) have neither gender nor 
number, and are always placed before the noun they qualify. The personal 
pronouns have no distinction of gender, nor are there any relative pronouns. 
The prepositions, instead of going before, come after the cases they govern. 
The present indicative and the infinitive of verbs are the same, and end 
always in u. The perfect indicative is formed by changing the u into i, and 
adding la, as kaku, kakila; the future by changing the u into o, and adding 
u, as koku, kokou. The imperative is formed by changing the final u into e, 
as koku, koke. There are no changes for number or person. The tenses of 
the conjunctive mood and all the other modifications of the verb are formed 
by nouns of action, with an indication of time, which may be compared to 
Latin gerunds, and which are construed with particles, as in Mandchu and 
Mongol. There is also a separate form of conjugation when the verb is 
used negatively. 

Both verbs, nouns and pronouns, undergo certain modifications indic¬ 
ative of humility on the one part, and superiority on the other, by reason of 
the relative rank of the party speaking and the party spoken to. “ To express 
honor, or to indicate humility,” says Rodriguez in his grammar, “ two sorts 
of particles are used ; one kind attached to the name it is wished to honor 
or humilitate, and the other to honorific or humiliating words. There are also 
words which, without any particle annexed, express respect or humility. In 
speaking with any person, a certain degree of honor or respect ought always 
to be expressed proportioned to that person’s rank, except, indeed, in speak¬ 
ing to one’s son, or servant, or to one of the lowest of the people. Even the 
absent must always be spoken of in the terms appropriate to their rank. In 
speaking of two or more persons, both of consideration, but of whom one far 

* Thus, for the nominative we have^fo, or the man ; or, sometimes, Jito-ga, or Jito-ha 
(the particles ga and ha being frequently prefixed to the nominative, with the force, as Rod¬ 
riguez says, of the definite article in the case of ha),Jito-no, of the man,^fo-ni, to the man, 
Jito~'joo,ov Jito-iva, m&n in the accusative or objective case; Jito-yori, or Jito-kara,yiit\i 
the man. 




JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 


549 


passes the other in dignity, — as when Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, 
or Christ and his apostles, are spoken of in the same sentence,— there must be 
added to the names of the persons of lesser rank both a honorific particle to 
mark the speaker’s respect for them, and at the same time a particle of 
humility to indicate their inferiority to the other. In speaking of one’s self 
it is usual to employ a particle of humility, except, indeed, in familiar and 
domestic conversation, in which simple or neutral words are used.” This 
peculiarity of their diction, no doubt, has an intimate connection with that 
scrupulous politeness for which the Japanese are distinguished, and is prob¬ 
ably the source of the discrepancy in the missionary grammars as to the per¬ 
sonal pronouns. 

Rodiriguez, in his grammar, enumerates the following Japanese writings: 
1. Ula and poems. 2. Maiy historical incidents, theatrically repre¬ 

sented, with musical accompaniments. 3. Sosi, histories and lives of their 
great personages (also intended, apparently, to be sung). 4. Sagheo, lives 
of saints. 5. Monogatari, histories, entertaining and instructive narratives, 
in prose. 6. Taifeki, history written in a graver style. 7. Laws and 
customs. 

Of the Monogatari, above-mentioned, we may obtain some notion from a 
brief statement of the contents of three of them, mentioned in the treatise on 
marriage ceremonies, of which Titsingh has given a translation, as proper 
to form part of the woman’s marriage outfit. These are, Ize Monogatari, 
“ by Ize, a female attendant of one of the wives of the Dairi, showing how a 
certain Mari Firu had lived in adultery with Nisio-no-Kisaki, one of the 
wives of the Dairi, which, to his indelible disgrace, was published in 
a great number of books Gensi Monogatari, or “ History of Gensi-no- 
Kami, a kinsman of one of the Dairies, containing an account of his adven¬ 
tures in several counti;^es; ” and Jeigawa Monogatari, “History of a 
Spendthrift, from which may be drawn useful moral precepts of economy.” 
Rodiriguez, who mentions also the two first of the above, specifies, as 
among the best of these writings, the Feike Monogatari, the story of the civil 
wars between the families of Fieke and Gundsi, and of the downfall of the 
Sioguns of the family of Feike, —an event which fills a great place in Jap¬ 
anese legendary history. This latter work is also mentioned by Kampfer, as 
is also the Osaca Monogatari (of which he brought home with him both the 
original and a translation), giving an account of the civil war which followed 
the death of Taiko-Sama, and the elevation of Jesi-Jas to the supreme power. 

In this class of Monogatari must also be placed “ The Forms of the Pass¬ 
ing World ; in Six Folding Screens,” translated by Dr. Pfizmaier, and of 
which an analysis is given in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, 
vol. II. 

Of their histories we have a specimen in fhejyipon odai itsi ran, of which, 
as translated by the labor of Titsingh and Klaproth, an account is given in 
p. 423 of the text. 

The Uta consist of distiches complete and perfect in themselves. The 



APPENDIX. 


650 "" 


first verse is composed of three feet, of which the first and last have five syl¬ 
lables, and the middle one seven syllables. The second verse consists of two 
feet of seven syllables each. It is a great beauty for these distiches to bear 
a double signification. Rodriguez gives the following specimen, supposed to 
be the utterance of a mother weeping for her children : 

“ Wakete fuku, kaye kosa ukerc, fana toraoni 
Tsirade kono fawa, nado no kururon.” 

Kaye signifies death and wind, ko, tree and son, and /aura mother and leaf. 
Take the first senses of these words and the distich will signify, “ 0 cruel 
wind, which, spending thy breath only on my roses, has uprooted them, yet 
has left the leaves on the trees ! ” Take the other senses, and the meaning 
is, “ 0 cruel death, which has struck down my son, while it has spared his 
wretched mother ! ” 

The poems called renga, composed in Chinese only, may extend to a hun¬ 
dred or a thousand verses, each verse dependent (as the name renga implies) 
upon that which immediately precedes it, or at least upon some word in it. 
These poems are all didactic ; they have no narrative poems ; Rodriguez 
mentions, however, that the popular prose observes a certain rhythm which 
renders it very harmonious, and this corresponds with what Golownin 
states of their chant-like manner of reading. 


Note B. 

JAPANESE NAMES. 

The following curious statements on this subject are drawn chiefly from 
Rodriguez’s Japanese Grammar : The Japanese take successively many sorts 
of names, and change them at different epochs of their lives. They are, 1. 
Names designating the individual (corresponding to our Christian names, 
and to the surnames, or names of addition, of the Romans). % Family 
names, common to all the individuals composing a family, or descended from 
it. 3. Names indicative of rank or office. 

I. The names of the first sort, taken at different epochs, are five. 1. 
Azona, that given by one’s parents at birth, generally that of some animal, 
or of something long-lived, or thought to be of good omen. When the 
individual employs this name to designate himself, he adds to the par¬ 
ticle mar on. When others use it (unless honorific particles are joined 
with it), instead of maron the particle dono is added. 2. Kemio or 
Karina, — the name of the adult man, taken when girded with the sword, 
and bestowed by some distinguished person who acts the part, as it were, 
of god-father. This is retained till superseded by some official or relig¬ 
ious name. 3. JVdnori, or Yaimio, a kind of personal designation pecu¬ 
liar to nobles and the great, employed by them in signing papers, along 
with their Kemio, and their name of office. They are all formed of eighty- 








JAPANESE NAMES. 


551 


two words, combined together two and two ; and in some families the usage 
is, that all of the same family name should employ in the formation of their 
nanori some one of these eighty-two words, specially consecrated to the use 
of that family. Thus the principal chiefs of the family of Feike call them¬ 
selves Tadamori, whence all those of the same descent take the word mori 
into their nanori. So princes accord to their courtiers, and gi*eat persons 
to their dependents, the favor of putting the last syllable of the name of the 
superior at the commencement of the name of the inferior. 4. Bozu, DogOy 
or Fomio — the religious name, assumed (as in European monasteries) on 
shaving the head, withdrawing from the world, and turning bonze. 5. TVo~ 
ku7-ina, a name given especially to princes and the great, after death. 
Names of this sort given to the Dairi terminate in tenwo or mikado. Those 
of the great lords mjidono ; those of the inferior lords mjengiomon, and those 
of princesses m. jengioni. 

II. Family names are either derived (as commonly in Europe) from some 
place of which the lordship is in the family, or from some event. There are 
in Japan eighty families or stocks (something, it would seem, like the Scotch 
clans), of which four are particularly illustrious, including those of Ghenji 
and Feiji; and from these eighty stocks all the nobles claim to be descended. 
But these family names are not peculiar to people of high rank ; they ai’e 
borne by all not of the very lowest class (by all, probably, entitled to the 
privilege of wearing two swords). The chief of the family joins the particle 
dono immediately to the family name. Thus, the prince of Arima is called 
Arimadono ; the prince of Omura, Omuradono. The others write the fam¬ 
ily name first, and after it their personal name, with the particle dono an¬ 
nexed. The terra sama, meaning lord, seems also to be used much in the 
same way with the terms of corresponding meaning in the languages of Eu¬ 
rope, only appended to the name instead of being prefixed. 

III. Names of oj06ice are derived either from the particular province of 
which one is the governor, or from one’s place in the general administration. 
Thus, those princes having the title ka7ni, add that to their family name with 
the intervention of the particle no, as Buygen-no-Kami. Most Japanese dig¬ 
nities being imitated from China, have Chinese as well as Japanese designa¬ 
tions. 

The following additional illustration of this curious subject is from Thun- 
berg: 

“ The name of each family and individual is used in Japan in a very dif¬ 
ferent manner from what it is in Europe. The family name of the Japanese 
remains unchanged, but is never used in daily conversation or in the ordi¬ 
nary course of life, but only when they sign any writings. There is, likewise, 
this singularity in the affair, that the family name is not put after, but 
always before, the adscititious name, in like manner as in botany, where the 
generic name of a plant always precedes the specific. The adscititious or 
adopted name is that by which they are addressed, and this is changed sev 
eral times in the course of their lives. As soon as a child is born it receives 



552 


APPENDIX. 


from the parents a certain name, which, if a son, he keeps till he arrives at 
years of maturity. At that period it is changed. If afterwards he obtains an 
office, he again changes his name ; and if, in process of time, he is advanced 
to other offices, the same change always takes place ; and some, but espe¬ 
cially emperors and princes, have a new name given them after their death. 
The names of women are less subject to change, and are frequently taken 
from certain beautiful flowers. Titles are given to place-men of a superior 
order on entering on their employments ; and to the chief of them various 
names of honor are added by the Dairi.” 


Note C. 

USE OF FIEE-AEMS IN THE EAST. 

Even the inhabitants of southern India, notwithstanding the long inter¬ 
course carried on with them by Arab traders from the Persian Gulf and the 
Red Sea, and the invasions of their country by Mahometans from the north, 
seem to have been mainly indebted for their first possession of fire-arms to Eu¬ 
ropeans ; as witness the following extract from Rickard Eden’s translation, 
first published in 1576, of the “ Navigations and Voyages of Lewis Vertoma- 
nus. Gentleman, of the city of Rome, to the Regions of Arabia, Egypt, Persia, 
Syria, Ethiopia, and East India, both within and without the river Ganges, 
&c., in the year of our Lord, 1503,” contemporary, that is, with the ear¬ 
liest Portuguese expeditions : “ Entering into the city of Calicut, we found 

there two Christians, born in the city of Milan ; the one named John Maria, 
the other Peter Antonio. These were jewellers, and came from Portugal 
Avith the king’s license to buy precious stones. When I had found these 
men I rejoiced more than I am able to express. At our first meeting them, 
seeing them to be white men (for we went naked, after the manner of tlie 
inhabitants), I asked them if they were Chi’istians. They said yea. 
Then said I that I was also a Christian, by the grace of God. Then, taking 
me by my hand, they brought me to their house, where, for joy of our meet¬ 
ing, Ave could scarcely satisfy ourselves with tears, embracing and kissing ; 
lor it seemed now to me a strange thing to hear men speak mine OAvn lan¬ 
guage, or to speak it myself. Shortly after, I asked them if they were in 
favor Avith the king of Calicut. We are, said they, in great favor Avith him, 
and very familiar. Then again I asked them Avhat they Avere minded to do. 
We desire, said they, to return to our country, but we know not the means 
hoAV. Then, said I, return the same way that you came. Nay, said they, 
that may not be ; for Ave are fled from the Portugals, because we have made 
many pieces of great ordinance and other guns for the king of Calicut, and 
therefore Ave have good cause to fear ; and now especially, for that the navy 
of Portugal Avill shortly be here. I answered that if I might escape to tlie 
city of Canonor, I doubted not but that I W’ould get their pardon of the gov- 





FERNAM MENDEZ PINTO. 


553 


ernor of the na\7. There is small hope of mercy, said they, we are so 
famous and well known to many other kings in the way, which favor the 
Portugals, and lay wait to take us. In which their talk I perceived how 
fearful a thing is a guilty conscience, and called to remembrance the saying 
of the poet: 

‘ Malta male timeo, qui feci multa proterve.’ 

That is, ‘I fear much evil because I have done much evil.’ For they had 
not only made many such pieces of artillery for the infidels, to the great dam¬ 
age of Christians, and contempt of the holy name of Christ and his religion, 
but had also taught the idolaters both the making and use of them ; and at 
my being there I saw them give a model or mould to certain idolaters, where¬ 
by they might make brazen pieces, of such bigness that one of them may 
receive the charge of a hundred and five tankards (cantoros) of powder. At 
the same time, also, there was a Jew, which had made a very fair brigan¬ 
tine, and four great pieces of artillery of iron. But God shortly afterwards 
gave him his due reward ; for, when he went to wash him in the river, he 
was drowned.” 

Nor did the two Christians escape much better. The Portuguese com¬ 
mander agreed to pardon them ; but, in attempting to escape to him, they were 
killed. Mafiei, in his Indian History, refers to the aid which the native 
princes derived from these and other Christian renegadoes. 


Note D. 

FERNAM MENDEZ PINTO. 

The ill fortune of which Pinto complained as having pursued him through 
life, did not spare him even after he was laid in the grave, the narrative 
of his adventures which he left behind him having been assailed by the wits 
and critics with hardly less ferocity than poor Pinto himself was while alive 
by the corsairs, infidels and barbarians, with whom he came in contact. 
He is indeed chiefly known to English readers by an ill-natured fling of Con¬ 
greve, who, in his “ Love for Love,” makes one of his characters address 
another in those oft-quoted words : — “ Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a 
type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude ! ” It is said also that Cervantes, 
three or four years before whose death Pinto’s book was published, speaks of 
him somewhere as the ‘‘ pi’ince of liars.” I have not been able to find the 
passage ; but likely enough Cervantes might have been a little vexed to find 
his Per sites and Siffismunda, a romance, under the guise of a book of trav¬ 
els, first published about the time with Pinto’s book^o much outdone by 
what claimed to be a true narrative of real adventures. 

As Pinto, however, in spite of all his ill lack, found, in writing his me¬ 
moirs, some topics of consolation, so also his character as an author and a 

47 





554 


APPENDIX. 


narrator has by no means been left entirely in the lurch. Though little read 
now, he has enjoyed, in his day, a popularity such as few authors attain to. 
To the first edition of his “ Peregrinations,” in the original Portuguese, suc¬ 
ceeded others in 1678,1711 and 1725; and second, third and fourth editions are 
compliments which Portugal very rarely pays to her authors. A Spanish 
translation appeared at Madrid in 1620, in which, however, great and very 
unwarrantable liberties wei’e taken by the translator. A French translation 
was published at Paris in 1628, and an English translation in 1663. To the 
Spanish and French translation defences of Pinto’s veracity are prefixed, and 
both passed through several editions. Purchas, who gives a synopsis of that 
part of Pinto’s book relating to China and Japan, strongly defends his credibil¬ 
ity,observing that he little spares his own company and nation, but often and 
eagerly lays open their vices. “ I find in him,” says Purchas, “ little boast¬ 
ing, except of other nations, none at all of himself, but as if he intended to 
express God’s glory, and man’s merit of nothing but misery. And, how¬ 
ever it seems incredible to remember such infinite particulars as this book is 
full of, yet an easy memory holdeth strong impressions of good and bad, 
especially new-whetted, filed, furbushed, with so many companions in mis¬ 
ery, their best music in their chains and wanderings being the mutual 
recounting of things seen, done and suffered. More marvel is it, if a liar, 
that he should not forget himself and contradict his own relations. 

“ I would not have an author rejected for fit speeches framed by the writer, 
in which maiiy historians have taken liberty ; nor if sometimes he doth 
mendacia dicere [say false things], so as that he doth not meniiri [lie] ; as 
I will not sware but of himself he might mistake, and by others be misled. 
The Chinese might, in relating their rarities to him, enlarge and de maynis 
majora loqui [exaggerate things really great], so as he still might be relig¬ 
ious in a just and true delivery of what himself hath seen, and belei not his 
own eyes. * * * All China authors, how diversified in their lines, yet 

all concur in a certain centre of Admiranda Sinarum [admirable things of 
the Chinese], * which if others have not so largely related as this, they may 
thank God they paid not so dear a price to see them ; and, for me, I will 
rather believe, where reason evicts not, ejectione firma [with a firm ejection], 
than seek to see at the author’s rate ; and if he hath robbed the altars of 
truth, as he did those of the Calumplay idols, yet, in Pekin equity, we will 
not cut off' his thumbs (according to Nanquin rigor), upon bare surmise, 
without any evidence against him.” 

The countries in which Pinto’s adventures chiefiy lay, still remain, for the 
most part, very little known ; but the more they have been explored, the 
more has the general correctness of Pinto’s statements been admitted. The 
editor of the great French collection, Annales des Voyages, who gives a full 
abstract of Pinto, renmrks that, having had occasion, in preparing the vol- 

* The title of a work ascribed to Valignani, the same visitor of the Jesuit missions in the 
East, repeatedly mentioned in p. 84, et seq., of the text, and whom Purchas elsewhere calls 
the “great Jesuit.” 



ENGLISH AND DUTCH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST. 555 


ume of that work on China, to consult all accessible works about that coun¬ 
try, he had been more and more confirmed in his opinion of the reality of 
Pinto’s adventures and the general correctness of his memory. Remusat, the 
eminent Chinese scholar, cites Pinto as good authority for facts, and it was, 
I believe, by his procurement, or that of the Societe ^siatique, that the 
Fi-ench translation of his travels was reprinted at Paris in 1830. 


Note E. 

EARLIEST ENGLISH AND DUTCH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST. — GOA. 

Prior to the first Dutch and English India voyages, both Englishmen and 
Dutchmen had reached India, some by way of Lisbon and the Cape of Good 
Hope, others over land. Pinto speaks of Christians of various nations as 
among the adventurers with whom he acted. Hackluyt gives (vol. ii.) a letter 
written by Thomas Stevens, an English Jesuit, dated in 1579, at Goa, which 
he had reached by way of Lisbon and the Cape of Good Hope. This curious 
letter was addressed by Stevens, who was attached to that very seminary of St. 
Paul (or the Holy Faith), of which we have had occasion to make mention, to 
his father in England. Hackluyt also gives in the same volume some very 
interesting memorials of the adventures of John Newbury, who, attended by 
Ralph Fitch, Story, a painter, Leeds, a jeweller, and others, was sent over 
land in 1583, simultaneously with the first English attempts at exploration and 
settlement in North America, by some London merchants of the Turkey Com¬ 
pany, as bearer of letters from Queen Elizabeth to Zelabdim Echabar, king of 
Gambia [Ackbar, the Great Mogul] and to the king of China —both which let- 
lei's, proposing trade and commerce, Hackluyt gives at length. Newbury pro¬ 
ceeded by way of Ormus, which he had visited before, and where he found mer¬ 
chants of almost all nations, not Portuguese only, but Frenchmen, Flemings, 
Germans, Hungarians, Greeks, Armenians, Turks, Arabs, Jews, Persians, 
Muscovites, and especially Italians, who seem by this time to have recovered a 
great share of the trade to the East. By one of these Italians Newbury and 
his company were accused as spies of Don Antonio (the claimant as against 
Philip II.,of the Portuguese throne, and at that time a.refugee in England). 
The fact also that Drake, in his recent voyage round the world, had, while 
at the Moluccas, fired two shot at a Portuguese galleon, was alleged against 
them. They were sent prisoners to the viceroy at Goa ; but, by the good 
offices of the English Jesuit, Stevens, abovementioned, and of John Huigen 
Van Linschoten, a Dutchman in the service of the archbishop, they were 
released on giving sureties not to depart without leave of the viceroy, which 
sureties they procured by placing goods in the hands of certain parties who 
became bound for them. 

Story, the painter, had indeed previously procured his discharge by join¬ 
ing the Jesuits of St. Paul, where he was admitted as a probationer, and was 





55G 


APPENDIX. 


employed in painting the church. The others, finding that the viceroy would 
not discharge their sureties, left secretly, or, as Fitch expresses it, “ ran from 
thence,” April, 1585, and, passing to Golconda, travelled north to Agra, 
then the capital of the Great Mogul. Here Leeds, the jeweller, entered 
into the Mogul’s service, who gave him “ a house, five slaves, and every day 
six S.S. [qu. sequins ?] in money.” Newbury went from Agra to Lahore, 
expecting to go thence to Persia, and, by way of Aleppo and Constantinople, to 
reach England ; and he sent Fitch meanwhile to Bengal and Pegu, promising 
to meet him in Bengal in two years in a ship from England. Fitch passed on 
to Benares, and thence to Bengal, and, Nov. 28,1586, sailed for Pegu, whence 
the next year he proceeded to Malacca. Returning again, in 1588, to Pegu, 
he went thence to Bengal in the following November ; whence, in February, 
1589, he took shipping for Cochin, touching at Ceylon on the way, a “brave 
island,” where he spent five days. At Cochin he stayed eight months before 
he could get a passage to Goa. From Goa he proceeded to Ormus, whence, 
by way of Basora, Mosul and Aleppo, he reached England April 29, lo91. 

Linschoten, mentioned above, who had arrived at Goa in 1583, from Lis¬ 
bon, as one of the archbishop’s suite, returned to Holland in 1589, where he 
published his travels in 1595, — the first Dutch account of the East. From 
him we learn that Story, the painter, after the departure of his companions, 
grew sick of the cloister of St. Paul, and, as he had not yet taken the vows, 
left and set up as a painter in Goa, where he had abundant employment, and, 
“ in the end, married a mestizo’s daughter of the town, so that he made his 
account to stay there while he lived,” — the first permanent English resi¬ 
dent in Hindostan. 

There is in \.\iQ Asiatic Journal, for Dec. 1838, a very striking description 
of the present ruinous state of the once splendid and magnificent city of Goa. 
It has been abandoned for Pongi, now known as New Goa, six miles nearer 
the sea, and the present seat of the shrunken Portuguese viceroyalty. The 
only inhabitants of Old Goa are a few hundred monks, nuns and their 
attendants, attached to the splendid churches and monasteries still standing, 
among which towers conspicuous the church of the Jesuits, in a beautiful 
chapel attached to which is the monument of St. Francis Xavier. His 
body, removed thither from the college of St. Paul, in which it was first 
placed, reposes upon a sarcophagus or bier of Italian marble, faced with 
bronzes, representing his missionary labors, and enclosed in a shrine of 
brass and silver. It is alleged still to be in as good preservation as ever, 
and is occasionally exhibited in public. The last of these exhibitions was in 
1783. 


Note F. 

JAPANESE DARING AND ADVENTURE EXTERIOR TO THE LIMITS OF JAPAN. 

The same Davis, who had been Houtman’s pilot in the first Dutch voyage 
to the East Indies, sailed from England in 1604, as master of the Tiger, a 






JAPANESE DARING AND ADVENTURE. 


557 


Bliip two hundred and forty tons. While on her course from Bantam to 
Batavia, the Tiger encountered a little junk of seventy tons, with ninety 
Japanese on board, “ most of them in too gallant a habit for sailors.” They 
had left home, as it turned out, in a larger vessel, which had been “pirating 
along the coast of China and Cambodia,” — much the same business, by the 
way, in which the Tiger Avas herself engaged, — but, having lost their vessel 
by shipAvreck, they had seized upon this little junk, laden with rice, and Avere 
trying to reach Japan in it. In hopes to get some information out of them, 
they were entertained for two days Avith “ gifts and feasting ;” but, at the 
same time, their junk was searched for treasure which might be concealed 
under the rice. While part of the Tiger’s men were employed in this search, 
the Japanese made a desperate elfort to get possession of that ship. Davis 
himself was killed in the first surprise, but the Japanese were finally forced 
into the cabin, Avhere, by breaking doAvn a bulkhead, some of the ship’s guns, 
loaded with bullets and case shot, were brought to bear upon them. They 
disdained to ask quarter, and all perished from effects of the shot except one, 
who jumped into the sea. The narrative of this affair, given by Purchas 
(Pilg., Part I., p. 187), and apparently Avritten by an officer of the Tiger, 
Avinds up as follows : “ The Japanese are not suffered to land in any port of 
India with wejipons, being accounted a people so desperate and daring that 
they are feared in all places where they come.” 

In conformity to this character of the Japanese is the account given by 
Floris, cape merchant of the Globe, an English ship, which touched at Siam 
in 1612, while performing the voyage mentioned p. 161 of the text. A 
short time previously, two hundred and eighty Japanese, the slave-soldiers 
of a principal Siamese noble, who had been put to death by the royal au¬ 
thority, had revenged their master by seizing on the king of Siam, whom 
they compelled to subscribe to such terms as they dictated, “ after Avhich, 
they had departed with great treasure, the Siamese not being able to right 
themselves.” 

The good service rendered to the Portuguese by .Japanese mercenaries at 
the siege of Molucca, in 1606, is mentioned in the text, p. 142. It appears, 
from a curious tract concerning the Philippines, preserved by Thevenot, that 
when De Silva, govex’nor of those islands, undertook, in 1608, to drh'e the 
Dutch from the Moluccas, he was obliged to send to Japan for saltpetre, 
metal, and even for founders to cast cannon. A body of Japanese formed, 
in 1619, a part of the Dutch garrison in their fort at Jacatara (named about 
that time Batavia), while besieged by the natives on the island, and block¬ 
aded at the same time by an English squadron, as mentioned p. 183 of 
the text. Of the Japanese settled on the island of Amboyna, and involved 
with the English in the massacre there, mention is made on p. 186. Haga- 
naar, who was at Cambodia in 1637, found among the inhabitants of that 
city seventy or eighty families of Japanese, whom he describes as not daring 
to return to their own country, Avith Avhich, however, they carried on trade, 
by means of Chinese ships. They were in great favor with the king of Cam- 
47# 




558 


APPENDIX. 


bodia, to whom they had rendei’ed valiant assistance in suppressing a dan¬ 
gerous rebellion, and were greatly feared by the other inhabitants of the 
city, whether Chinese or Malays. To this day one of the channels of the 
great river of Cambodia is known as Japanese river — a name given, indeed, 
on some maps, to the main river itself, and probably taking its origin from 
this Japanese colony. 

The conquest of the Lew Chew Islands, by the king of Satsuma, took place 
about 1610 ; and, much about the same time, some Japanese made an estab¬ 
lishment on the island of Formosa, for the purpose of trading with the 
Chinese ; but in this they were soon superseded by the Dutch. The narra¬ 
tive of Nuyts’ affair, as given in the text (p. 199), is derived from a detailed 
account appended in Voyages an JVbrd, tom. iv., to Caron’s Memoir, ad¬ 
dressed to Colbert, on opening an intercourse with Japan ; but, from a paper 
embodied in the Voyage of Rechteren {Voyages des Indes, tom. v.), and 
written, apparently, in 1632, by a person on the spot, it would appear that 
the conduct of Nuyts, instead of being prompted by personal antipathy, was 
merely an attempt to exclude the Japanese from the trade with the Chinese, 
and to engross it for the Dutch East India Company ; “a desire good in 
itself,” so this writer observes, ” but which should have been pursued with 
greater precaution and pi'udence.” 

In the Chinese writings, the Japanese figure as daring pirates ; but, as the 
appellation bestowed on them is equally applied to other eastern and south¬ 
eastern islanders, it is not so easy to say to whose credit or discredit the 
exploits referred to by these Chinese writers actually belong. 


Note G. 

rEODUCTS OF JAPAN.-PKOBABLE EFFECT OF OPENING JAPAN TO FOREIGN 

TRADE. BY S. W. WILLIAMS. 

There is much exaggeration, doubtless, in the minds of many persons in 
the United States, respecting the population, wealth, resources and civiliza¬ 
tion, of the Japanese, in all of which points they have been generally rated 
much higher than the Chinese, in proportion to the extent of their country. 
Further examination will show that the trade with them is to grow slowly, 
and only after they and their foreign customers have learned each other’s 
wants, and the rates at which they can be supplied. They have yet to ac¬ 
quire a taste for foreign commodities, and ascertain how they are to pay for 
them ; and their rulers may interpose restrictions, until they see what course 
the trade will take, and how the experiment of opening the country to the 
Americans is likely to affect their own political position. Foreigners will 
need some data, too, before they can see their way clear to embark much in 
such a traffic. The intercourse, it is to be hoped, will be conducted amicably, 
even if the first adventures should not prove to be very profitable. 





PRODUCTS OF JAPAN. 


659 


In articles of food and raw produce, the Japanese have hitherto raised only 
such as they needed, as wheat, rice, barley, cotton, silk, iron, copper, and 
such like, most of which can be more profitably taken there than carried 
away. The copper of Japan, long famous for its purity, is used to a small 
extent by the Japanese in preserving their junks, but much more in orna¬ 
menting them ; even those whose bottoms are not coppered are curiously 
overlaid and adorned on the bows and gunwales with many plates and pieces 
of this metal. On shore, we saw very few copper utensils, either in the 
kitchen or work-shop, and the metal does not seem to be extensively used in 
any way, compared with what one might have anticipated. 

Charcoal and fossil coal are both procurable ; the former to a great 
amount, as it forms the fuel of all classes, and is of an excellent quality. 
The fossil coal is obtained from the islands of Kiusiu and Sikokf, in the 
principalities of Tchikugen and Awa, and the specimens obtained appear to 
be surface coal, not of a very good quality of bituminous, but which might 
turn out better on digging deeper. The demand for it to supply steamers 
running between China and California may stimulate more energy in bring¬ 
ing it to market, but, until we know more, there is not much on which to 
ground large hopes in respect to this article. 

Camphor is produced in Japan, and both the unrectified gum and timber 
can doubtless be obtained. The pine wood of the country is also of the finest 
quality, and might be carried away for cabinet work, as well as curly maple 
and other woods which further investigation may discover. At Simoda, 
good building-stones are quarried, in blocks of three or four cubic feet, and 
in small slabs, both of which might be taken to San Francisco, for the foun¬ 
dations of houses, when the trade there in other articles is sufficient to load 
a ship. 

A few specimens of tea were obtained, all of which were sun-dried, and 
only one of them of a pleasant flavor. In order to make the tea grateful to 
western palates, a different process of manipulation must be introduced. 
If the cultivators were taught the various processes of fining tea-leaves, it is 
probable that their tea would soon be in demand, as the leaf is as fine as that 
grown in China. The plant is common in hedges and yards, in the villages 
on the shores of the Bay of Yedo, and its cultivation could be indefinitely 
extended. The Japanese often use sugar with their tea, and drink it moder¬ 
ately strong. 

The specimens of lackered ware, both inlaid shell, mosaic, gilded and 
plain, which the Japanese produce, are superior to anything produced in 
the East, as those who have visited the Handel-Maabschappy’s (or Dutch 
East India Company’s) warehouse, at Batavia, know. Those articles are 
chiefly made for a foreign market, and more could be supplied, as demand 
arose, and manufacturers directed their attention to them, while their beauty 
and finish would always secure a moderate sale. 

Raw cotton is often woven into cloth by the family which raised it, and 
intends to wear it. Silks are worn by the gentry, but the common people 



560 


APPENDIX. 


usually dress in cotton. The specimens of silk fabrics furnished by the 
Japanese show that they can manufocture almost every variety of these 
goods. Crapes, pongees, challies, camlets, and gauze, are all made, espe¬ 
cially the first, which is the favorite article of dress among the gentry, as it 
is in China. Cheap combinations of cotton and silk are woven, and form 
substitutes for pure silk among the poor. The dyes in all kinds of silk, and 
the stamps on cottons, further prove that the arts of ornamenting the pro¬ 
ducts of the loom have been carried to a high degree of excellence ; some of 
the tints are superior to those in China, and the variety of patterns stamped 
on cotton is great and novel. The figures on crapes are frequently large 
and grotesque, those on cotton small and of a single color ; but, doubtless, 
any patterns can be produced after time has been given. The trade in man¬ 
ufactured silks may, by-and-by, form an important bi’anch of the traffic. 
So far as can be ascertained, the native manufacture now consumes most of 
the raw silk, so that there is little probability of Japan furnishing any of 
that at present; it is highly probable, even, that it is imported from China. 

Besides the articles already enumerated, a few minor articles may also be 
sought after. Paper, of a coarse quality, is used in enormous quantities for 
nose-wipers, and for wrapping up articles ; and, though all the specimens 
seen are in sheets less than three feet square, it can probably be made in 
longer’sheets. It is all manufactured from the bark of the paper-mulberry 
(Broussonetia), yvhich. grows wild about Simoda ; and the fine sorts would 
serve for engravers’ uses and printing. Some of the specimens seen ai-e ex¬ 
tremely fine and smooth, not so white as cotton or linen, but silky and soft. 
The soy made by the Japanese is of an excellent flavor, and this and their 
sweet saki, or rice whiskey, might find a few customers. Kittisols, or paper 
umbrellas, and rain-cloaks made of oiled paper, afterwards varnished, are 
neatly-made articles, which last longer than one would suppose so frail a 
material would endure. There is not the same unpleasant smell about them 
that renders the Chinese kittisols so disagreeable. Fine porcelain is made 
by this people, of a superior quality, and could, probably, be manufactured 
according to any pattern. The small saki and tea-cups constitute the great¬ 
est portion of the pieces which we saw in the shops ; and though china-ware 
is common, and of a good quality, it is not used to nearly the extent it is in 
China. Some of the specimens of Japanese porcelain exceed anything to be 
found elsewhere, for thinness and clearness of wai-e, and the demand for 
them is likely to increase. Coarse pottery and earthen ware are cheap, and 
many of the pieces are worked into grotesque and elegant shapes. "Whether 
it could be furnished of the proper sorts, and in sufficient quantity, for ex¬ 
portation, is, perhaps, doubtful. Besides these articles, nothing that seems 
likely to be in demand was brought to our notice, but further investigations 
may show that raw lacker, India ink, tobacco, fish-oil, rape-seed, and other 
miscellaneous products, will be worth seeking for exportation. 

Amid the vast variety of foreign articles likely to be in demand among the 
Japanese, those which are cheap and durable for wear, or in constant use as 



PRODUCTS OF JAPAN. 


561 


food, rank the first. Cheap woollens, blankets, glass-ware, fancy colored 
and drilled cottons, cutlery, watches, soaps, and, perhaps, lead, tin, iron, 
ginseng, and perfumery, will commend themselves to the people. Rice, 
wheat and barley in the grain, sugar, and, perhaps, flour, too, are such 
products as can be readily disposed of in a country whose population seems 
to live very near its production. At present there is no knowledge among 
the mass of people as to what they can get from abroad, and no desire for it* 
since all their wants have been hitherto supplied among themselves, and 
they have been content with what they had. 

The produce of the country is not much beyond the wants of its inhabit¬ 
ants, and there is, therefore, a difficulty in paying for cloths and other 
things which the common people might be glad to take. The proportion of 
rich men is, probably, small, and wealth generally belongs to the class of 
noblemen, or monopolists, by whom the industry of the masses is either com¬ 
pelled or farmed for their benefit. These classes might be willing to take 
fine things, articles of ornament or excellence, such as glass ware for the 
toilet or table, fine cutlery, broadcloth, or watches, and pay for them in 
crapes, silks, lackered ware, or gems ; but such a barter would extend very 
slowly, and never amount to much. It is, however, likely to be the com¬ 
mencement of the trade at Simoda, as the rich and noble can sooner gratify 
their inclinations than the poor, and each party will desire to see the most 
beautiful specimens of skill and art the other can furnish, and at first they 
are most likely to be remunerative. 

The most likely way to commence the trade with Japan is, it appears to 
me, for ships going from China to California to stop at Simoda for water and 
provisions, and pay for them in cotton, woollen, or other goods, of which a 
larger assortment than could be disposed of might be had in readiness to 
show. A few calls of this sort would make the people around the town 
aware, practically, that the produce of their farms and gardens was likely 
to meet with a steady sale, for returns which were valuable and appreciated 
by their neighbors. The demands of a few ships for provisions would begin 
to turn the attention of the people to supplying them, while an exchange 
of each other’s commodities would, probably, ere long, attract capital¬ 
ists from Yedo, Okosaka, and otner large towns, to enter more largely into 
the opening commerce, and take orders to be fulfilled by a certain date- 
Merchants will find little encouragement to reside at Simoda for many sea¬ 
sons yet. 

In conducting a barter trade with the Japanese, the foreigner must under¬ 
stand their determination in respect to the currency, and charge three times 
the cash price for his goods, in order to make them equal with the market 
prices of provisions and merchandise. However, further investigations are 
still wanted to ascertain how much bread, cotton, and labor, can be obtained 
for an ichibu, before the comparison of the currency of Japan with that of 
China, England, or America, is perfectly satisfactory. 

It is idle to speculate on the effects of the new influences likely soon to 




562 


APPENDIX. 


operate upon this inquisitive, touchy, and high-spirited people, through the 
openings now made in their seclusive policy ; but it is earnestly to be hoped 
that the personal bearing of Americans resorting to Simoda and Hakodade 
will not be such that the Japanese will conclude that, while there are some 
things to be afraid of in their new customers, they have more to despise and 
reject, from what they see of their conduct. 


Note H. 

ACCOUNT OF JAPAN, CHIEFLY EXTRACTED FROM JAPANESE WORKS.* 

The archipelago, of which the Japanese empire is composed, is inhabited 
by a race that, at first sight, greatly resemble the Chinese in form and 
exterior. In carefully examining their characteristic features, however, and 
comparing them with those of the Chinese, it is easy to perceive the discrim¬ 
ination between them ; I have myself made the experiment at the Russian 
and Chinese frontier, where I met with individuals of both nations at the 
same time. The eye of the Japanese, although placed almost as obliquely as 
that of the Chinese, is, however, wider near the nose, and the centre of the 
eyelid appears drawn up when opened. The hair of the Japanese is not uni¬ 
formly black, but of a deep brown hue. In children below the age of 
twelve it may be found of all shades, even to flaxen. There are also indi¬ 
viduals to be met with who have hair completely black, and almost cri^|>ed, 
with eyes very oblique, and a skin extremely dark. At a distance, the com¬ 
plexion of the lower orders appears yellow, like the color of cheese ; that of 
the inhabitants of towns is diversified according to their mode of life, whilst 
in the palaces of the gi’eat may be often seen complexions as fair and cheeks 
as ruddy as those of European females. The vagabonds on the highways, on 
the other hand, have a skin of a color between copper and a brown earthy 
hue. This is the prevailing complexion of the Japanese peasantry, of those 
parts of the body particularly which are much exposed to the heat of the 
sun. 

The distinct origin of the Chinese and the Japanese is completely estab¬ 
lished by the language of the latter, which is wholly different, in respect to 
radicals, from that of all people in the vicinity of Japan. Although it has 
adopted a considerable number of Chinese words, those words do not form a 
radically integral part of the language ; they have been introduced by Chi¬ 
nese colonies, and principally by the Chinese literature, which has formed 
the basis of that of Japan. The Japanese radicals have as little resemblance to 
those of the Corean tongue ; they are equally alien to the dialects of the Aynos 
or Kuriles, who inhabit Jeso. Lastly, the Japanese language has no affinity 


* From an article furnished by M. Klaproth to the Asiatic Journal^ new series, vol. vi. 





Klaproth’s account of japan. 


563 


to the dialects of the Manchoos and Tungooses, who inhabit the continent of 
Asia opposite to Japan. 

Ill manufacturing industry the Japanese rival the Chinese and the Hindus. 
They have excellent workmen in copper, iron and steel ; their sabres are not 
inferior to those of Damascus and Korasan. Many arts, such as the manu¬ 
facture of silk and cotton fabrics, of porcelain, of paper from the bark of the 
mulberry-tree and from the filaments of various plants, of lackered ware, 
glassware and other articles, have reached a high degree of perfection amongst 
them. The Japanese have practised the art of printing ever since the begin¬ 
ning of the thirteenth century, in the same manner as the Chinese. The 
most celebrated presses are at Miako and Jedo. These two cities, with Osaka, 
Nagasaki, Yosida, and Kasi-no-mats, are the principal marts of industry in 
the empire. 

In the same proportion that the external commerce of Japan is circum¬ 
scribed, its internal trade is active and flourishing. No imposts check its 
operations, and communication is facilitated by the excellent condition of the 
roads. Although the ports of Japan are sealed against foreigners, they are 
crowded with vessels, both great and small. Shops and markets overflow 
with every species of commodities, and large fairs attract a prodigious number 
of people to the trading towns, which are scattered throughout the empire. 

The three principal islands which constitute the Japanese empire are, for 
the most part, studded with lofty volcanic mountains, particularly that of* 
Nipon, which is traversed in its whole length by a chain almost of uniform 
elevation, and in many places crowned with peaks covered with perpetual 
snow. This chain divides the streams which flow to the south and east, and 
which fall into the Pacific Ocean, from those which pursue a course more or 
less northerly to the sea of Japan. The highest mountain of the empire 
forms, however, no part of this chain ; it is that of Foosi-no-yama, an enor¬ 
mous pyramid crowned with snows, situated in the province of Suruga, on 
the frontier of that of Kai. 

An empire composed of islands cannot, of course, have very considerable 
rivers. It is only in the largest, the island of Nipon, that the most consider¬ 
able streams are found, chiefly in the western portion, which is larger than 
the eastern. The Jodogawa is the efflux of Lake Biwano-mitsu-oomi, 
called on our maps the Lake of Oitz, situated in the province of Oomi, sev¬ 
enty-two and a half English miles long, and twenty-two and a quar¬ 
ter in its greatest width, and much the largest in Japan. The Jodogawa 
passes before the cities of Jodo and Osaka, and fixlls into the gulf of that 
name. The Kiso-gawa rises in the province of Sinano, flows to the south¬ 
west, enters Mino, where it is reinforced by several large rivers, forms the 
boundary between this province and that of Owari, and, under the name of 
Sayagawa, falls into the gulf of Izeh. The Tenriogawa, or river of the heav¬ 
enly dragon, flows out of Lake Suwa, in the province of Sinano, enters Tooto- 
mi, and there disembogues itself by three mouths into the sea ; it is very 
wide, and its current is extremely rapid. The Kamanafi originates at Mount 



664 


APPENDIX. 


Yatuga-oka, in Kai. At the boundary between this province and that of 
Suruga, it separates into two branches : the western, called the Ooygawa, 
divides Suruga from Tootomi, and falls into the sea a short distance from 
Iro ; the eastern branch, named Foosi-no-gawa, runs at the base of Mount 
Foosi-no-yama, and enters the bay of Taga. The sources of the Aragawa are 
at the lofty mountain of Fosio-daken, situated between the provinces of Koo- 
tsukeh and Musasi. It flows through the latter, and soon separates into two 
branches ; the western, receiving the name of Todagawa, falls into the gulf 
of Jedo, to the eastward of the city of that name, which is watered by 
branches and canals from the Todagawa. Upon one of these canals is the 
celebrated Nipon-bas, or bridge of Japan, from whence distances are com¬ 
puted throughout the empire. The other branch of the Aragawa falls into 
the great lake Tukgawa, formed in Kootsukeh province by the three great 
rivers, Takasina, Atsuma and Kawagawa. It divides Musasi from Koo¬ 
tsukeh and Simosa, and falls by one branch into the gulf of Jedo, and by 
the other into the great lake Kasmiga-oora, whose waters are discharged, by 
the large issue called Saragawa, into the Eastern Ocean. This lake, situated 
in the province of Fitats, is fed by a number of considerable streams flowing 
from the mountains of Moots, Simotsukeh and Fitats. The Odkumigawa and 
the Figanigawa are two large mountain streams ; they discharge themselves 
into the Eastern Ocean. The source of the Kasabagawa is in the province of Si- 
nano. Its course is northerly, entering Yetsingo, where it takes the name of 
Finegawa, and falling into the sea of Japan, near the city of Ituwogawa. In 
Sinano it detaches a branch on its right, the Saigawa, which flows to the north¬ 
east, and unites itself to the Sinanogawa. This large stream originates in the 
Akiyaraa mountain, in the province of Sinano ; it enters the Yetsingo, where 
it discharges itself by three arms into the estuary of Niegata, which commu¬ 
nicates with the sea of Japan. The Ikogawa rises on Mount Sanotooki, on 
the frontier of Sinano and Moots ; it traverses a part of the latter, where it 
receives the Datami on the left, and on the right the waters of the salt lake 
Inaba. It enters Yetsingo, where it takes the name of Tsugawa, and falls by 
one of its branches into the estuary of Niegata, and by the easternmost into 
that of Fukusimagata. The largest river in the province of Dewa is the Mo- 
gami, called at its embouchure the Sakadagawa. It is formed by several 
large streams, Avhich flow from the snowy mountains of Moots, and it falls 
into the sea of Japan. 

The empire is distributed into eight grand divisions or countries, denomi¬ 
nated Do, or “ways,” namely, Goky nay, Tokay do, Tosando, Foo-koo-ro-koodo, 
San-in-do, San-yo-do, Nan-kay-do, and Say-kay-do. These are subdivided 
into sixty-eight kokfs, or provinces, which again consist of six hundred and 
twenty-two koris, or districts. 

I. Golcynay consists of five provinces, which compose the peculiar state or 
demesne of the emperor ; they are as follows ; 

1. Yamasiro (eight districts); principal cities, Kio, or ]\Iiako, the resi¬ 
dence of the Dairi, Nizio and Yodo ; productions, damasks, satins, taffetas. 




Klaproth’s account of japan. 


565 


and other silk fabrics of every kind, lackered articles, caps, kesas, or scarfs 
for the Buddhist priests, screens, fans, pins, bow-strings, white paint, tea- 
boxes, images of Buddhist divinities, porcelain and earthen ware, melons, 
tender sprouts of the bamboo for eating, dry ginger, stones for grinding ink, 
tea, grindstones, dolls, fish. 2. Yamato (fifteen districts); principal cities, 
Kori-yama, Toka-tori, Kara ; productions, saki, or Japanese wine, excellent 
ink, parasols, pottery-vessels, cotton, deer, lacker, paper (plain and var¬ 
nished), flour of the katsoora root, tobacco, melons, medical herbs, edible 
roots. 3. Kawatsi (fifteen districts) ; city Sayansa ; productions, fruit, bar¬ 
relled figs, sugar of-rice, perfumes, cucumbers, tree-cotton, diamonds, matri- 
caria^ bridles, bells for hawks used for hunting, raisins, black yams, coals, 
edible roots of the lotus. 4. Idzumi (three districts) ; city, Kisi-no-wata ; 
productions, gold-flowered gauzes, tafietas, brass guns, white paint, shoes, 
vinegar, umbrellas, knives, melons, gold-fish, rock spari, soles, paper, salt, 
summer hats, water-jars, tobacco, combs, sieves. 5. Sets (thirteen dis¬ 
tricts) ; cities, Osaka, one of the chief commercial emporia in the empire, 
Taka-tsuki, Ayaka-saki ; productions, raw cotton (both tree and herbaceous), 
cotton fabrics, salt-water fish, salted fish, grain, medicinal plants, wood for 
building, oil for burning, saki, soy, vinegar, umbrellas for the rain and the 
sun, tiles, melons, turnips, a sort of mustard of which the tender sprouts 
are eaten {kaburana), iron kettles, gingerbread. 

II. Tokaydo, or eastern sea-way, consists of fifteen provinces ; namely : 

1. Iga (four districts); capital, Wooye-no. 2. Izeh (fifteen districts); 
cities, Koowana, Kameyama, Tsu, Mats-saka, Kambeh, Kwe, Nagasima, 
Yoda, the Daysingu temples ; productions, raw cotton (treeand herbaceous), 
taffetas, sea-crabs (highly-prized), the best pearls in Japan, a great quantity 
of fish and shell-fish, mosses, large radishes, daucus Indica, acorns {totsi 
nomi, barrelled figs, excellent tea, mercury (crude and sublimed), white 
paint, whalebone, almanacs, sugar of rice, matches, flutes, straw shoes. 3. 
Sima (two districts); capital, Toba ; productions, pearls, nearly as fine as 
those of Izeli. 4. Owari (eight districts); cities, Nakoya, Inogama ; pro¬ 
ductions, pearls, loadstones, edible roots, gourds. 5. Mikawa (eight dis¬ 
tricts) ; cities, Yosida, Nisiwo, Kariya, Tawara, Oka-saki, Koromo ; pro¬ 
ductions, talc, anchors, arrow-heads, stones for playing drafts and chess, 
paper, fish, shell-fish, amongst which is the cancer Bernhardus. 6. Tutu- 
mi (fourteen districts); cities, Kakegawa, Yakosuka, Famamats ; produc¬ 
tions, potatoes, oranges of difterent sorts, eels and other fish, sugar of rice, 
peas, light summer cloths, made of the katsoora plant, other cloths, 
edible shoots of the bamboo, birds of prey for the chase, arrow-heads. 
7. Suruga (seven districts); cities, Foo-tsiu, Tanaka ; productions, pa¬ 
per, bamboo utensils, melons, tea, sweet oranges, rock spari and other 
sea-fish, moss from Mount Foosi-no-yama. 8. Idsu (three districts); 
capital, Simoda ; productions, saki or Japanese wine (from Icekawa), 
paper, astrological almanacs from the great temple of the Sintos at 
Misima, ginger. 9. Kay (four districts); capital, Footsiu ; productions, 

48 



566 


APPENDIX. 


taffetas, paper, stamped gold of the country, varnish, wax, chestnuts, 
peaches, raisins, barrelled figs, trained horses. 10. Sagani (eight districts), 
cities, Odawara, Tamanawa ; productions, safiiower, shrimps (the coast 
abounds with fish). 11. Moosasi (twenty-one districts); cities, Jedo, the 
second capital of the empire, and the residence of the Seogun or military em¬ 
peror of Japan ; Kawagobe, Iwatski, Osi ; pi’oductions, melons, fish, oys¬ 
ters, divers shell-fish, moss, cotton, human hair, lime. 12. Awa (four dis¬ 
tricts) ; cities, Yakata-yama, Tosio, Fosio ; productions, cotton, moss, fish. 
13. Kadzuza (eleven districts) ; cities, Odaghi, Sanuki, Kooruri; produc¬ 
tions, safiiower, moss, oysters (in the bay of Ootaki-ura very fine rock spari 
are taken). 14. Simoosa (twelve districts) ; cities, Seki-yado, Sakra, 
Kooga, Yughi ; productions, moss, chestnuts, gauzes and other silk fabrics. 
15. Fitats (eleven districts); cities. Hits, Samodats, Kodats, Kasama ; pro¬ 
ductions, large paper, carp, and many other fish. 

III. Tosando, or way of the eastern mountains, consists of eight prov¬ 
inces : 

1. Oomi (thirteen districts); cities, Fikoneh or Sawa-yama, Zezeh ; pro¬ 
ductions, bones of snakes, dead grasshoppers, yellow dye-root (/rariasw), 
lime, rush mats, spiders’ webs, hempen cloths, a variety of fish, paper made 
of grass, earthen dishes, timber for building, grindstones, stones for grinding 
ink, porcelain of Sikara-ki, arrow-heads, tobacco-pipes, parasols, models 
(sisineh), rock crystal, saddles, whips, crupers, lamp-wicks, kettles, meas¬ 
ures, ink, moza (a substance to burn, made from the tops and leaves of a 
species of artemesia), asbestos, cotton thread, peas and beans, paper, pins 
and needles, calculating boards {abacus). 2. Mino (eighteen districts); 
cities, Oogani, Kanora, or Kanara ; productions, silk manufixetures, various 
sorts of paper, melons, knives and daggers, carp, birds of prey for hunting. 
3. Fida (four districts); capital, Taka-yama ; productions, cotton, saltpetre, 
silver, copper, fish, silk goods. 3. Sinano (ten districts); cities Uyeda, 
Matsumoto, lyi-yama, Takato, Omoro, lyida, Takasima ; productions, uinsi 
or ginseng (a small species, and of inferior quality), buckwheat, hempen 
garments, salt, tobacco. 5. Kootskeh (fourteen districts); cities, Tatsfayan, 
INIayi-bas, Numsda, Yasinaka, Takeseki ; productions, silk manufactures of 
various qualities, lacker, celebrated carp from the river Negawa. 6. Simo- 
tskeh (nine districts) ; cities, Ootsu-miya (containing the temple of the Sin- 
tos, in high repute), Kurafa, Mifu, Odawara (also Mount Nikwo-san, with a 
celebrated Buddhic temple); productions, paper (strong and of a large size), 
lacker, fine tafifeta, straw hats, fans, umbrellas, copper from Mount Rowo- 
yama. 7. Moots (fifty-four districts), the largest province in Japan ; cities, 
Senday, the capital of an almost independent prince; Sira-issi, Waku-mats, 
Niphon-mats, Morioka, or Great Nambu, Yatsdo, Tana-koora, Taira, Sira- 
kawa, Nakamura, Fook-sima, Minuwaru, Firo-saki (in the district of Tsugar), 
Iiia-basi, and, lastly, Matsmai, at the southern extremity of the island of 
Jeso ; pi’oductions, provisions, silk fabrics, summer garments made of paper, 
ashes and potash, gold-dust, hawks for hunting, grain, lai’ge sea-shells. 




Klaproth’s account of japan. 


667 


Baited fish, bear-skins, trained horses, horse-tails, lacker, "vvax, wooden 
bowls, rock-crystal, amber, red earth ; the best horses in Japan are from the 
district of Nanbu, where are extensive pastures ; the productions of Jeso, in 
particular, are as follows : konbu, or sea-cabbage, birds of prey for hawk¬ 
ing, whales and other sea-fish, skins of otters, Ijeavers, seals, and stags, cas- 
toreum, gold, silver, adamantine spar. 8. Dewa (twelve districts); cities, 
Yone-sawa, Yama-gata, Onewe-no-yama, Sinsio, Sionay, Akita ; produc¬ 
tions, sea-cabbage, safflower, a very large kind of hemp, wax, lacker, oiled 
paper, madder, tin, lead, silver, sulphur, deer-skins, horses. 

IV. Fookoorokudo, or way of the northern districts, comprehends seven 
provinces : 

1. Wakasa (three districts); capital, Kobama ; productions, white rice 
pionies, pulp of lotus-flowers, perfume-bags, cloths, mosses, paper, saki, pen¬ 
cils, stones for grinding ink, black stones for draft or chess boards, lime, 
many kinds of fish. 2. Yetsisen (twelve districts); towns, Fookie, Foo- 
cheu, Maruoka, Ono, Sabafe, Katsu-yama ; productions, lead, ditferent sorts 
of paper, cloths, silk fabrics, cotton goods, hats woven from the filaments 
of herbs, grindstones, oil extracted from the seeds of the dryandra cordata, 
much fish. 3. Yetsiu (four districts); capital, Toyama ; productions, salt¬ 
petre, yellow lotus, lead, cotton cloths, taffetas, fish. 4. Yetsingo (seven 
districts); cities, Takata, Naga-oka, Simbota, Mura-kami, Itsumo-saki, Mora- 
mats ; productions, lead, lacker, wax, white mustard, various cotton fabrics, 
white hares, sturgeons and other fish, deal and larch wood. 5. Kaga (four 
districts); cities, Kanazawa (with the celebrated Buddhic temple Daisiu-si), 
Komats ; productions, paper, skins for drums, small thread, wine of mother¬ 
wort, yellow lotus, sulphur, silk, satins. 6. Noto (four districts); this prov¬ 
ince has no cities ; the most considerable towns are Soos-no-misaki, Kawa- 
siri, Nanao ; productions, sea-fish, divers kinds of mosses, colored stones 
washed up by the sea. 7. Sado (three districts); the capital of this isle is 
Koki; productions, gold, silver, yellow lotus, deal and larch-wood. 

V. Sanindo, or way of the northern sides of the mountains, contains eight 
provinces : 

1. Tango (five districts); cities, Miyazu, Tanabeh ; productions, hemp, 
baskets, silk, taffetas, fish and shell-fish, umbrellas, iron, timber for build¬ 
ing. 2. Tonba (six districts); cities, Kame-yama, Sasa-yama, Fooktsi- 
yama ; productions. China-root, wax, quinces, chestnuts, tobacco, cloths, 
tea, topazes, sheaths for knives and sabres. 3. Tasima (six districts); cities, 
Idzusi or Daisi, Toyo-oka ; productions, small ginseng, pionies, yellow lotus, 
medicinal and edible herbs, cotton, hawks for hunting, pepper, silver, grind¬ 
stones. 4. Inaba (seven districts); capital, Totstori ; productions, veg^ 
table wax, paper, melons, dried fish, ginger. 5. Foki (six districts); capi¬ 
tal, Yonego ; productions, iron, steel, bear’s-gall, a medicine greatly in 
repute among the Japanese, pans to fry fish. 6. Idzumo (ten districts); 
capital, Matsugeh ; productions, iron, steel, sabres, fish, shell-fish, melons, 
cloths. 7. Iwami (six districts); cities, Tsoowano, Famada ; productions. 



568 


APPENDIX. 


silver, tin, draftmen, honey. 8. Oki (four districts); this province consists 
of two large isles, of the same name, the one called the hither, the other the 
hinder ; it has no cities, only small towns and villages ; productions, cloth 
and sea-fish. 

VI. Sanyodo, or way of the southern side of the mountains, has eight 
provinces: 

1. Farima (twelve districts); cities, Fimedzi, Akazi, Ako, Tatsfu ; pro¬ 
ductions, fish, shell-fish, salt, saddles, leather, looking-glasses, kettles, steel, 
cast-iron, a kind of vei’y viscous rice, which is used to distil excellent saki, 
2. Mimasaka (seven districts); cities, Tsuyama, Katsu-yama; produc¬ 
tions, saltpeti’e, stones for grinding ink. 3. Bizen (eight districts); capital, 
Oka-yama ; productions, large cuttle-fishes, sea-fish, mosses, porcelain, edi¬ 
ble marine herbs. 4. Bitsiu (nine districts); capital, Matsu-yama ; produc¬ 
tions, paper of various kinds and colors, pears, lacker, iron. 5. Bingo 
(fourteen districts); capital, Fuku-yama ; productions, silk fabrics, summer- 
hats, rock-spari and other sea-fish. 6. Aki (eight districts); capital, Firo- 
sima ; productions, paper, baskets, saltpetre, rock-crystal, dried figs, mal¬ 
lows, fish. 7. Suwo (six districts); cities, Tok-yarna, Fook-yama ; produc¬ 
tions, paper, red color, cloths, edible bamboo. 8. Nagata (six districts); 
cities, Faki, Tsio-fu, Fu-naka ; productions, porcelain, green color, fish, 
stones to grind ink, lime, shell-fish, models. 

VII. Nankaydo, or southern way of the sea, contains six provinces : 

1. Kiy (seven districts); cities, Waka-yama, Tona-be, Sinmiya (with a 
celebrated temple, dedicated to the god of physic, surrounded with several 
others); productions, medicinal plants, oranges, various kinds of wine, soles, 
mallows, shell-fish, whales, carp, oysters, pulse, and edible plants, melons, 
honey, vegetable glue, mosses, chestnuts, timber, ink, wooden bowls, paper 
to make parasols, bows, jewelry articles, draftmen, grindstones. 2. Awasi 
(two districts); capital of this isle, Sumoto or Smoto ; fish, stones of different 
colors, tree cotton. 3. Awa (nine districts); capital, Toksima ; produc¬ 
tions, oysters, precious stones of a blue color (lapis lazuli?), cloths, fire¬ 
wood, flints. 4. Sanuki (eleven districts); cities. Take-mats, Maru- 
kameh ; productions, fish, oysters and other shell-fish, sea-crabs. 5. lyo 
(fourteen districts); cities, Matsu-yama, Uwa-yama, Imobari, Sayzio, Ko- 
mats, Daisu, Dago ; productions, pulse, fish, edible marine herbs, paper, 
hawks, mats, cloths. 6. Tdsa (seven districts); capital, Kotsi; produc¬ 
tions, trained horses, monkeys, salted fish, shell-fish, cloths, paper, ink, 
baskets, honey, hemp, timber. — JVote. The provinces of Awa, Sanuki, lyo, 
and Tosa, belong to the island called Sikokf; that is, “ of the four 
provinces.” 

VIII. Saykaydo, or western way of the sea, comprehends nine provinces 
of the large island of Kiusiu, formerly also called Tsin-sae-fu, or “ the west¬ 
ern military government ” : 

1. Tsikoozen (fifteen districts); cities, Fookoo-6ka, Akitsuki ; produc¬ 
tions, silk manufactures like the Chinese, saki, fish, wild geese, cast-iron 




OMITTED DOCUMENTS. 


5G9 


kettles. 2. Tsi-kungo (ten districts); cities, Kurome, Yana-gawa ; produc¬ 
tions, carp, safflower, radishes. 3. Buzen (eight districts); cities, Kokura, 
Nakatsu ; productions, cotton fabrics, rock-crystal, sulphur. 4. Bungo (eight 
districts); cities, Osuki, Takeda, Saeki, Foonae or Fnae, Finode ; produc¬ 
tions, saltpetre, sulphur, rock-crystal, tin, lead, large bamboos, chestnuts, 
hawks and dogs for hunting, fish, frying-pans, bricks. 5. Fizen (eleven 
districts); cities. Saga, Karatsu, Omura, Simabara, Osima, Firando, Naga¬ 
saki ; productions, whales and other sea-fish, shell-fish, echini, edible roots, 
water-melons, raisins, earthen ware, silk stuffs, knives, brass guns, porcelain, 
mats, cotton cloths, sugar. 6. Figo (fourteen districts); cities, Kuraa-moto, 
Yatsu-siro, Oodo, Amakusa ; productions, salted fish, sweet oranges, tree 
cotton, mosses, grindstones, flints, earthen ware, tobacco pipes, leather 
trunks. 7. Fiuga (five districts) ; cities, Jyifi, Takanabeh, Nobi-oka, Sado- 
wara ; production^ lacker, pears, deal for building. 8. Osumi (eight dis- 
ti'icts); capital, Kokobu ; productions, brass cannon. 9. Satsuma (four¬ 
teen districts); capital, Kagosima ; productions, camphor, a species of 
ginseng, safflower, melons, edible roots, tobacco, vegetable wax, cinnamon, 
trained horses, deer-skins, cloths, combs, saki. 

The island of Iki is divided into two districts; its capital is Katu-moto ; its 
productions are fish, cloths and gauzes. 

The island of Tsu-sima, between Corea and Japan, is also divided into two 
districts ; the capital is Futsiu ; its productions are ginseng, lead, grind¬ 
stones and frying-pans. 

The empire is governed by eight administrations or boards ; namely, Tsiu 
jo-no-sio, the general central board ; Sik~boo-no~sio, the board of legisla¬ 
tion and of public instruction ; Dzi-boo-no-sid, the general board for the 
interior ; Min-boo-no-sio, the board for the affairs of the people, or general 
police ; Fio-boo-no-sio, the general board of war ; Ghio-boo-no-sid, the 
board of criminal affairs ; Od-koora-sid, the treasury board ; Koo-ndi-no- 
sib, the ministry of the imperial dwelling. 


Note I. 

OMITTED DOCUMENTS. 

I. Letter of the Emperor Ge-Jas (Ogosho-Sama) to the king of England— 
(James I.).* 

“ Your majesty’s kind letter, sent me by your servant. Captain John 
Saris (who is the first that I have known to arrive in any part of my 
dominions), I heartily embrace, being not a little glad to understand of your 
great wisdom and power, as having three plentiful and mighty kingdoms 
under your powerful command. I acknowledge your majesty’s great bounty 


48 * 


* See ante, page 171. 




5T0 


APPEIiDIX. 


in sending me so undeserved a present of many rare things, such as my land 
affordeth not, neither have I ever before seen; which I receive not as 
from a stranger, but as from your majesty, whom I esteem as myself. Desir¬ 
ing the continuance of friendship with your highness, and that it may stand 
with your good liking to send your subjects to any part or port of my domin¬ 
ions, where they shall be most heartily welcome, applauding much their 
worthiness, in the admirable knowledge of navigation, having with much 
facility discovered a country so remote, being no whit amazed with the dis¬ 
tance of so mighty a gulf, nor greatness of such infinite clouds and storms, 
from prosecuting honorable enterprises of discoveries and merchandising, 
wherein they shall find me to further them according to their desires. I re¬ 
turn unto your majesty a small token of my love (by your said subject), 
desiring you to accept thereof as from one that much rejoiceth in your friend¬ 
ship. And whereas your majesty’s subjects have desired certain privileges 
for trade and settling of a factory in my dominions, I have not only granted 
what they demanded, but have confirmed the same unto them under my 
broad seal, for better establishing thereof. From my castle in Suruga, this 
fourth day of the ninth month, in the eighteenth year of our Dairi, according 
to our computation. Resting your majesty’s friend, the highest commander 
in the kingdom of Japan. 

“ [Signed,] Minna. Montono. Yer. Ye. Yeas.” 

II. An ordinance of the emperor of Japan sent to all the governors of the 
maritime districts to prevent the landing of Portuguese : * 

“Theexpress and reiterated commandments against the promulgation of 
the religion and doctrine of the Christians have been duly published and 
everywhere proclaimed ; but it being found that these edicts were not 
efficacious, they [that is, the Christians] were forbidden to approach the 
coasts of Japan with their galliots and other sea vessels ; and some of them, 
in contempt of this prohibition, having come to Nagasaki, orders were given, 
in punishment of this offence, to put them to death. It was commanded, last 
year, by a special edict, that in case any sea vessel were seen on the coasts 
of Japan or entered any port, it might be permitted to anchor, with a 
strong guard on board, till what they proposed was sent to the emperor. 
This commandment is now revoked ; and it is ordered instead that these ves¬ 
sels [that is, Portuguese and Spanish vessels], without hearing a word 
which those on board have to say, shall be destroyed and burnt, whatever 
pretence they may set up, and all their crews to the last man be put to death. 

“It is also commanded to erect watch-towers on the mountains and all 
along the coast, and to keep constant watch to discover Portuguese vessels, 
so that news of their arrival may at once be spread everywhere ; and if such 
a vessel shall first be discovered from a more distant point, it shall be im¬ 
puted as a crime to those in charge of the nearer watching places, and the 


* See ante, page 192. 




OMITTED DOCUMENTS. 


571 


governors thus guilty of negligence shall be deprived of their offices. As 
soon as a Portuguese vessel shall be discovered, news shall be sent express to 
all the neighborhood, to the governors of Nagasaki and Osaka, and to the 
lord of'Aruna [Omura?]. 

“ It is expressly forbidden to attack or molest any Portuguese vessel at 
sea, but only in some road, port or haven of the empire, as to which you will 
conform to the orders that may be sent you from the governors of Nagasaki 
or the lord of Aruna, except where necessity obliges instant action, in which 
case you will act as already commanded. 

“As to vessels of other nations, you will, according to the tenor of 
former ordinances, visit and examine them ; and, after placing a strong 
guard on board, without allowing a single person to land, send them in all 
safety to Nagasaki.” 

III. Letter from Louis XIV. to the emperor of Japan.* 

“ To the sovereign and highest emperor and regent of the great empire of 
Japan, over subjects very submissive and obedient, the king of France wishes 
a long and happy life and a most prosperous reign : 

“Many wars, carried on by my ancestors, the kings of France, and many 
victories gained by them, as well over their neighbors as over distant king¬ 
doms, having been followed by profound peace, the merchants of my king¬ 
dom, who trade throughout Europe, have taken occasion very humbly to beg 
me to open for them the way into other parts of the world, to sail and to 
trade thither like the other European nations ; and I have the rather inclined 
to accede to their request, from its being seconded by the wishes of the 
princes and nobles among my subjects, and by my own curiosity to be exactly 
informed of the manners and customs of the great kingdoms exterior to 
Europe, of which we have hitherto known nothing but from the narratives 
of our neighbors who have visited the East. I have therefore, to satisfy as well 
my own inclination as the prayers of my subjects, determined to send depu¬ 
ties into all the kingdoms of the East ; and as my envoy to your high and 
sovereign majesty, I have selected Francis Caron, who understands Japan¬ 
ese, and who has many times had the honor of paying his respects to your 
majesty, and of audience from you. For that express purpose I have caused 
him to come into my kingdom, knowing him very well to be of good extrac¬ 
tion, though by misfortunes of war stripped of his property; but reestablished 
by me in his former condition, and even elevated in honor and dignity, to 

* See ante, page 204. Colbert’s East India Company and scheme of opening the com¬ 
merce of China and Japan, was simultaneous with his West India Company, and his 
attempts to strengthen and build up the establishments of the French in the Carribee Islands 
and in Canada. La Salle, who immortalized himself as the discoverer of the Upper Mis¬ 
sissippi, and as first having traced that river to its mouth in the gulf of Mexico, came origin¬ 
ally to Canada with a view to the discovery of an overland western passage to China and 
Japan. See Hildreth’s History of the United States, vol. ii., p. 113. The Japan enterprise, 
however, proved a failure, and the letter given above never actually reached Japan. 



572 


APPENDIX. 


make him more worthy to approach your high and sovereign majesty with 
all due respect. An additional motive for selecting him was the fear lest 
another person, from ignorance of the wise ordinances and customs estab¬ 
lished by your majesty, might do something in contravention of them, and 
so might fall under your majesty’s displeasure ; whence I have judged the 
said Francis Caron the most capable to present my letter and my requests, 
with such solemnities as might secure for them the best reception on the part 
of your majesty, and to make known my good affection and my frank desire 
to grant to your sovereign majesty whatever you may ask of me, in return 
for the grant of what I ask : which is, that the merchants of my kingdoms, 
who have united themselves into a company, may have free commerce 
throughout your majesty’s empire, without trouble or hindrance. I send 
you the presentoftrifling value here noted. * * * * I hope it may be 

agreeable to your majesty, and that some things useful to your majesty may 
be found in my country, of which I voluntarily leave open and free all the 

ports. 

“ At Paris, the twenty-fourth year of my reign. 

The King Louis.’* 

Note. _'What is said above of Caron’s good extraction, of his having lost his fortune by 

the chances of war, and of his reestablishment in his former position by the favor of the 
king, was, it is probable, merely intended to reconcile the Japanese to receiving as an envoy 
from the king of France a man whom they had known only in the — according to their 
ideas — low character of a Dutch merchant. 

In the instructions drawn up for the bearer of this letter, the following curious directions 
were given as to the answer to be made to the inquiries of the Japanese on the topic of relig¬ 
ion : “ As to the article of religion you will say, that the religion of the French is of two 

kinds_one the same with that of the Spaniards, the other the same with that of the Dutch; * 

and that his majesty, knowing that the religion of the Spaniards is disliked in Japan, has 
given orders that those of his subjects who go thither shall be of the Dutch religion ; that 
this distinction will be carefully attended to; and that no Frenchman will ever be found 
wishing to contravene the imperial orders.t Should they advance as an objection, that the 
king of France depends upon the Pope, like the king of Spain, you will answer, that ho does 
not'’depend upon him; that the king of France acknowledges no superior, and that the 
nature of his dependence upon the Pope may easily be seen in what has happened within 
two years, in consequence of an outrage at Rome upon the person of his majesty’s ambassa¬ 
dor. The Pope not making a sufficiently speedy reparation, his majesty had sent an army 
into Italy, to the great terror of all the Italian princes, and of the Pope himself, who 
sent a legate to him charged with the most humble and pressing supplications, whereby Ids 
majesty was induced to recall his troops, which already had encamped in the Pope’s territo¬ 
ries. So that the king is not only sovereign and absolute in his own domain, but also gives 
the law to many other potentates ; being a young prince, twenty-five years of age, valiant, 
wise, and more powerful than any of his ancestors ; and, withal, so curious that, besides a 
particular knowledge of all Europe, he eagerly seeks to know the constitution of the other 
countries of the world.” 

* This was before the revocation of the edict of Nantz. 

t This reads very much like the third clause in the American letter. 



INDEX.’ 


ActrptwcTURB, 410, 453. 

Acting and Actors. 164, 273—270, 422. 
Adams, Wm., his voyage to Japan and ad* 
ventures there, 133, 134, 164—159, 163, 
165, 173 ; his Japanese family and estate, 
174 ; his will, 184. 

Adofski, 280. 

Agriculture, Japanese, 68, 404, 421. 

Ainslie, Dr., 457, 458. ' 

Almeida, Louis, 79, 81, 122, 130, n. 

Alvarez, Father, hia Japanese Grammar, 
125, n., 547. 

Amboina, 52, 186. 

Amakusa, 103, 125, 128. 

Ambergris, 250. 

Americans in Japan, 446, 453, 456,491,496— 
499, 502—504, 507 ; embassy, 507 ; letter 
to the emperor, 509, 518 ; treaty, 523 ; addi¬ 
tional regulations, 530—532, 5^. 

American anchorage, 519. 

Amida, 65, n., 351, n. 

Augiro (Paul, of the Holy Faith), 39, 47—51, 
272 ; death of, 72. 

Angeles, Father de, 170, n., 203. 

Animals, domestic, 67, 338, 405, 490; wild, 
67, 490. 

Aquiviva, general of the Jesuits, 87. 
Aratame, 351. 

Arima, 79, 83, 86, 101, 102, 125, 126, 191. 
Armorial bearings, 95, n., 282, 287, 295, 304, 
315, 447, 514, 517. 

Army, 198. 

Arms, 413, n., 515. 

Array, place of inspection, 354. 

Asiatic Journal, 152, 491, 556. 

Astronomers, 409, 452, 467, 468, 488. 
Barretto, Nugues de, 76, 77. 

Beds and Bedding, 307, 401, 463. 

Bell, great, 380, 382. 

Bettelheim, Dr., 500. 

Biddle, Commodore, 496. 

Bikuni (begging nuns), 320. 

Bishops of Japan, 125, 128, 130, 175, 187. 
Blind, societies of, 324. 

Books, Japanese, 419. 

Bonin Islands, 512. 

Botany, Japanese love of, 283 ; books on, 410, 
419 ; of Japan, 395, 408, 421, 423, 490. 
Brcskins, the voyage of, 201. 

Bridges, 292, 340, 345, 360. 

Brixiano, Organtino, 119. 

Broughton, 445. 

Buddha, 64, n. 

Buddhism and Buddhists, 47, 59,63, 269, 351. 
Bungo, 30, 32, 73, 79, 116, 126. 

Bulls, papal, relating to Japan, 117, 129,140, 
175. 

Burger, Dr., 489. 

Burrows, visit to Japan, 534. 

Cabral, Father, 82, 84, 85. 


Calendar, Japanese, 35, 271. 

Camphor trees, 337, 438, 559. 

Cammelia, 396. 

Candles, ^1, 332. 

Cangosima, 50, 75, 154, 492. 

Cards, 469. 

Carts, 406. 

Carpets, 296, 400, 539. 

Caron, 195—197. 200, 204, 205, n., 209, 261, 
265, 267, 278, 282, 325, 337, 351, 403. 
Castracoom, voyage of, 200, 203. 

Castles, 297, 298, 338, 343, 349, 354. 

Casuar, 342. 

Catharine II., of Russia, 445. 

Catholicism in Japan, 50, 75, 79, 85, 103, 
128 ; edicts against, 98, 172, 175, 176 •, ex¬ 
tinction of, 187, 190, 191, 200, 205 •, causes 
of the persecution of, 98, 111, 123,172, 176, 
178, 179. 

Catholics in Japan, number of, 102,151,200. 
Cevicos, Jean, 189, n. 

Charlevoix, 27, 94, 170, 189, 222. 

Children, management of, 402, 403. 

China ware and pottery, 337. 

Chinese Repository, 491, 493. 

Chinese trade and intercourse with Japan, 21, 
210, 214, 248, 384, 507 ; with Europe, 121, 
184, 178, 207 ; opium war, 494. 

Civan, king of Bungo, 73, 79, 83, 85, 86, 89, 

112 . 

Clocks, Japanese, 396, 488. 

Climate of Japan, 409, 420, 423, 467. 

Cloth fortifications, 463, 493. 

Coal mines, 338, 488, 533, 559. 

Cocks, Richard, 165,173, 174, 177, 180—182, 
186. 

Coin, 55, 209, 282, 383, 531, 532, n. 

Colds and catarrhs, 402. 

Colic, 410. 

Concubines, 199, 433. 

Collado, Father, 188,190 ; his Japanese gram¬ 
mar, 392, 393, 547. 

Copper, Japanese, 209, 214, 251, 384, 385, 
421. 

Corea, 104, 112, 113, 115, 126, 129. 

Cosme de Torres, 50, 51, 76, 78, 186. 
Cosmogony, Japanese, 62. 

Courtesans, 150, 199, 223, 236, 259, 325, 487. 
Coxinga, 230. 

Crucifixion, 124. 

Curtis (Botanical Magazine), 395, 396, n. 
Daibods, temple of, 380. 

Daikoku, god of riches, 272. 

Dairi, or Mikado, 55, 56, 81, 150, 193, 199, 
349, 426. 

Dale, Sir T., 183. 

Dancers, 422. 

Davis, Houtman’s pilot, 556. 

Desima, 191, 201, 222—225, 231—233, 237, 
389, 391. 





574 


IJ^DEX. 


Doeff, Hendrick, 447, 449, 451—457, 4S4. 

Dogs, 405, 490. 

Dominicans in Japan, 113, 117, 120,129. 
Draughts, game of, 469. 

Dragons, 303. 

Dress, 409, 417, 521, 528, 530. 

Dutcli East India Companj', 132, 133, 162, 
184, 216, 217, 387, 417, 484. 

Dutcli intercourse and trade with Japan, 142, 
153, 184, 193, 213, 222—251, 384, 389, 446, 
453, 459, 484, 500. 

Dutch Director, 246, 247, 249, 277, 326, 367, 
370, 372, 377, 379, 311, 484, 488, 501. 
Dutch-Japanese children, 392, 459. 

Dutch language in Japan, 430, 486, 548. 
Earthquakes, 120, 297, 432, 542. 

Elephant, 458, 468. 

English trade and intercourse with Japan, 
161, 163, 169, 177, 184, 186, 196, 205, 446 
—448, 454, 485. 

Fachiman, Fuchiman, Fatzman, or Hachiman 
(the Japanese Mars), 127, 302. 

Fans, 284. 

Facone, district of, 356, 407. 

Faxiba (afterwards Taiko-Sama), 95—97,104, 
105,108, 110, 112. See Taiko-Sama. 

Fei.je, or Feke, family of, 58, 551. 

Feast of Lanterns, 442. 

Festivals, 62, 173, 397, 442, 470. 

Ferreyra, Christopher, 190, 202. 

Ferries, 292. 

Fide Jori, 127, 129, 154, 176. 

Figen, or Fisen, province of, 53, 264,337,338, 
455. 

Figure-treading, 228, 267, 397, 503. 

Firando, 73, 142, 153, 163, 173, 177,180, 182, 
186, 190, 194, 195, 201 •, prince of, 79,103, 
126, 139,144, 152,153,163—165, 177. 

Fires, 68,354,355, 360,361,409,431,451, 541, 
551. 

Firemen, 359. 

F’isscher, J. F. Van Overmeer, 459, 487. 

Fitch, Ralph, 206, 555, 556. 

Fire-places, 307, 527, 540. 

Flower-gardens, 305, 306, 310. 

F'lowers, 308, 310, 407. 

Forest trees, 408, 410. 

Formosa, 190,195, 210, 230. 

Foxes, 67, 334, 335. 

Foyne-Sama, 144,152, 153, 163—165, 177. 
Franciscan missions, 118, 120, 123,124, 129, 
190. 

IVench intercourse with Japan, 204, 499, 571. 
Froez, Louis, 80, 81, 126, 130, n., 185, n., 195, 
199, 331. 

Fruit trees, 407. 

Fruits, 407, 421. 

Funeral ceremonies, 439—442. 

Furniture, 296. 

Fusi mountain, 345, 407, 492, 568. 

Galvano, Antonio, 21, 41, 52 ; his account of 
the discovery of Japan, 23. 

Gago, Balthazar, 75, 79. 

Games, 332. 

Gardens, 311. 

Gnecchi, Father, 82, 83,97, 116,123,126,129. 
Gi-jas (Ogosho-Sama, and Gongen-Sama), 
founder of the reigning dynasty, 127—129, 
137—139, 143,148, 156, 157, 168, 177. 
Ginseng, 390. 

Globius, 452, 468, 486. 


Glynn, Captain, 500. 

Goa, 20, 42, 46—48, 76, 87, 105, 556. 

Gold, 209, 385, 531. 

Golownin, 28, 36, 128, 421, 427, 451, 458, 461 
—483. 

Gordon, Captain, 485. 

Gowns, 417, 422. 

Grave-yards, 395, 537. 

Guns, their introduction into Japan, 30, 413 j 
515. 

Guysbert, Robert, 187,188, 267, 268. 

Gutslaff, 491. 

Hackluyt, 22, 99,113, 119, 121, 136, 207. 

Haganaar, 190, 195, 196, 261. 

Ilagendorp, 448. 

Hair, manner of wearing, 412, 521, 522. 

Hakodade, 445, 460, 463. 

Hatch, Arthur, 183. 

Hay, collection of Japanese letters, 94, 119, 
130,.159. 

Hawkins, Sir R., attempted voyage to Japan, 
132. 

Head-dresses and coverings, 273, 284, 413, 
515. 

Histoire General des Voyages, 154, 554. 

Horses, 167, 405. 

Horseback riding, 280, 285. 

Houses, 258, 295, 296, 299, 305, 341, 349,360, 
398, 538—542. 

Houtman, Cornelius, 132,133. 

Idsu (province), 359, 504, 564. 

Imhotf, 384. 

Inns, 146, 167, 305. 

Intermarriages, 174, 197, 201, 230. 

Interpreters of Desima, 231, 279, 280, 309, 
328. 

Irkutsk, professorship of Japanese at, 446. 

.Tamabo, mountain priests, 66, 321. 

Jancigny, his work on Japan, 491, 506. 

Japan, discovered by Europeans, 22, 34, 35 ; 
preceding history, 58, 426 •, exclusive pol¬ 
icy of, 225, 385, 386, 445, 480, 495, 497, 
501 ; characteristics of the inhabitants, 70, 
220, 228, 283, 333, 423, 562. 

Jebisu, or Yebis-san-ro (Japanese Neptune), 
272. 

Jedo, 99, 129, 145, 169, 177, 204, 358—379, 
417, 451, 486, 488, 525 •, bay of, 357, 492, 
495, 496, 504, 520, 534. 

Jeso, 100,101, 203, 444, 461, 467. 

Jesuits in Japan, 84, 102,103, 117, 118,121, 
125,140,176, 178, 179, 191. 

Joritomo, 58, 324, n., 325. 

Joscimon, king of Bungo, 82, 85, 98, 102,103, 
115,116. 

Journal Asiatique, 141, 385. 

Journal of Commerce, (New York), 520, 527. 

Jujumi (6gure-treading), 228, 267, 347, 503. 

Justice, administration of, 200, 268, 300. 

Kachi, see Tachitay-Kachi. 

i Kambang, Dutch sale by, 245—249. 

Kami, 60, 62. 

Kampfer, Engelbert, 18, 32, 188, 208, n., 210, 
213, n., 216—382, 395, 400, 405, 407, 412, 
424, 464. 

Kamissimo, 211, 419. 

Kanagawa, 358, 521, 525. 

! Kango, 286. 

j Kappa, 284. 

Kandariu, 29. 

! Katti, or Catty, 29. 









INDEX 


575 


Kas, 29. 

Kitoo, 55. 

Klaprotli, 62, 271, 295,352, 356,382,385,420, 
426, 451, 562. 

Kokf, 54. 

Kokonots, 267. 

Konashir, 444, 460. 

Kobang, 55, 209, 383, 532. 

Krusenstern, 449. 

Kubo, 54, 56, 420, 427, 431. 

Kuge, 57, 427. 

Kuli, 229, 235, 389. 

Kurile Islands, 100, 203, 444, 445, 483. 
Kwambak, Kambakundono, 96, 220, 427. 

La Lande’s astronomy in Japan, 452. 

Lacker and lackered ware, 68, 309, 521, 537, 
559. 

Lancaster, voyages to the East Indies, 132, 
139. 

Lamps, 332. 

Lattices, 369. 

Laxman in Japan, 445, 468. 

Leonsiama, 471, 473. 

Lew Chew, 27, 30, 34, 100, 101, 141, 202, 325, 
495, 522, 

Liampo, 2i, 22, 25, 34, 35. 

Linshoten, 132, 555. 

London Missionary Society, 494, n. 

Lopo de Vega, 173. 

Loyala, Ignatius, 42, 43, 77. 

Macao, 21, 77, 86, 122, 124, 134, 186, 187, 
192, 206, 207, 491. 

McDonald, prisoner in Japan, 503, 504. 
M’Kay, prisoner in Japan, 502, 503. 

Mafifei, 22, 130. 

Magellan, Straights of, 131, 132, 134. 

Jlahay, Jacques, 132. 

Maize, 538. 

Malela, 17. 

Malacca, 21, 24, 87,142. 

Manilla, 109, 117, 120, 121, 126, 140,154,159, 
184, 189, 207. 

Mansie (cakes), 375. 

Manufactures, 68, 337, 349, 350, 537, 559. 
Maps, Japanese, 221, 419, 489. 

Mariner, voyage of, 604. 

Marco Polo, 14—17. 

Marmori, 431. 

Marsden, 16, 17. 

Aina 

Mats, 400, 416, 539. 

Marriages, 199, 432—439, 469, 470. 

Martyrs, 12:3, 178—181, 186, 190, 196. 
Matsmai, 101, 445, 465, 466. 

Matsuri, 270, 422. 

Matheson, Captain, 514. 

Maylan, (j. F., 487. 

Meals, 51, 332, 357, 375, 378, 401, 462, 466, 
470, 522. 

Merchants, 32, 54, 272, 406, 452, 483. 
Mercator, voyage of the, 495. 

Medicines, 353, 410, 539, 540. 

3Iermaids, 342. 

Mexico, intercourse with Japan, 123, 155, 
157—159, 189. 

Mia (Kami temples), 61, 260, 301, 379—382, 
528. 

Miako, 53, 56, 72, 81, 98, 109, 123, 126, 129, 
151, 154, 171, 349, 379, 404, 431. 

Mikado. See Dairi. 


Mirrors, 61, 402. 

Miseratsie (house ornaments), 307. 

Moluccas, 21, 23, 41, 52, 142, 153, 155, 162, 
172, 183. 

Mongol invasion of Japan, 14. 

Monsoons, 241. 

Montanus (Memorable Eml^assies), 204, 209, 
367. 

Morrison, voyage of the, 491—493. 

Mourning, 440-^43. 

Moxa, 411. 

Music and Musical Instruments, 165, 274, 536. 
Mythology, Japanese, 62, 65, 271, 272. 
Nagasaki, 82, 86, 101, 102, 114,123,125,129, 
178, 180, 181, 218, 240, 247, 256, 262—264, 
277, 327, 454, 499—504, 522. 

Nambu, 202. 

Namada, 261. 

Naugato, 72, 74, 77, 97. 

Nengo, 35. 

New Year’s Day, 397, 470. 

Nipon, 13, 53, 101, 299, 327. 

Niponbas, 360. 

Nobunanga, 81—83, 86, 95, 385. 

Norimon, described, 286. 

Nuyts, Peter, 194, 195, 558. 

Oath, Japanese form of, 227. 

Obani (a gold coin), 55. 

Offari (indulgence box), 318. 

Ogosho Sama. See Gi-jas. 

Oil, 332, 345, 395, 460. 

Oitz (lake), 352. 

Omura, 80, 82, 86, 101, 102, 455. 

Ottoha, 265, 266 ; of Desima, 223,224,226,232, 
233, 238, 239, 293, 249. 

Oxu, or Muts, 158. 

Ozaka, 53, 97, 98, 123, 130, 153,154,166,177, 
289, 339. 

Painting, cosmetic, 337, 338, 392, 487. 

Paper, manufacture of, 400. 

Paper hangings, 258. 

Parker, Dr., 491, 493. 

Paul, of the Holy Faith. See Angiro. 

Pearls, 15, 536. 

Pellew, Captain, 454, 455. 

Perouse, La, 444. 

Phaeton, visit to Japan, 454, 455. 

Philip II., of Spain, 87, 91, 94. 

Philippines, 52,108,113,114,118,120,121, n., 
126, 131, 141, 144, 172, 180, 207. 
Physicians, 407, 410, 412, 452, 488. 

Picul, 29. 

Pillows, 307. 

Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, 62, 318. 

Pinkerton, Collection of Voyages, 200, 205. 
Pinto, Fernam Mendez, 23, 24, 27—34, 37— 
40, 72, 76, 78, 553. 

Plays, 165, 273, 422. 

Pocket-handkerchiefs, 408. 

Portraits, 36. 

Post-houses, 146, 167, 304. 

Portuguese trade and intercourse with Japan, 
21, 27, 34, 76, 99, 105—108, 110, 111, 121, 
152, 154, 186, 191,192, 203. 

Presents, 379. 

Preble, visit to Japan, 500. 

Princes, 119, 197—200, 277, 314—318, 431. 
Pring, Martin, 183, 186. 

Printing, 418. 

Prisons, 464. 






576 


INDEX 


Proclamation places, 299. 

Purchas, Samuel, 130, 139, 179, 185. 

Quanto, 127. 

Quanwon, 255, 381. 

Quan, 439, 440. 

Quarterly Review (London), 485. 

Radish, 462. 

Raffles, 209, n., 384, n., 385, 448, 453, 457, 
453. 

Refreshment Houses, 311. 

Rerausat, 411, 425, 428. 

Revenues, 185. 

ResanofF, visit to Japan, 449—451. 

Ricci, Matthew, 488. 

Ricord, visit to Japan, 471—483. 

Rice, 54, 167, 404, 462. 

Rivers, 261, 568. 

Roads, 147, 167, 288, 290. 

Rodriguez, 107, 124, 128, 130; his Japanese 
grammar, 547. 

Rodrigo de Vivero, 141; his visit to Japan, 
144—152. 

Roofs, 297, 298, 399, 527, 529, 540. 

Rundall, Memorials of Japan, 174. 

Russian intercourse with Japan, 445, 449,471 
—483, 542. 

Sakano, 331. 

Sakai, 53, 80, 81, 97, 98, 123, 166, 339. 

Saki, 68, 261, 343, 542. 

San Francisco Herald, 534. 

Sanscrit, 63, 262, 544. 

Santvort, Melichor, 158,188. 

Simoda, 504, 523, 526—528, 530, 533—542. 
Saramang, voyage of the, 494. 

Saris, John, observations in Japan, 161—174, 
179, 261. 

Sagaleen, 101, 203, 444, 445. 

Science, Japanese, 69, 410. 

Scurvy, 473. 

Scheuchzer, 222. 

Sea-weed, edible, 407, 461. 

Seni. See Kas. 

Serampore Free Press, 499. 

Shoes, 282, 409, 521, 540. 

Ships, Japanese, 293. 

Shipwrecked Japanese, 445, 446. 

Shops, 298, 539. 

Skimi, or anise tree, 303, 396, 491—495. 
Siaka, 65. 

Sidney Gazette, 494. 

Siebold, 13, 113, 257, 266, 335, 395, 414, 486, 
488, 490, 547. 

Silver, 208—210, 385, 531. 

Simabara, 79, 192, 398. 

Siogun. See Kubo. 

Sinto, 66, 261. 

Siesraki (religious ceremony), 322. 

Sikokf, 53, 97, 100. 

Siuto, 66. 

Sinusrgling, 239, 249, 252, 253, 267, 300, 388, 
507. 

Sotelo, Lewis, 158, 159,189. 

Soldiers, 166,167,198, 414, 451, 468, 520. 
Soli.s, Jean de, 109. 

Soy, 312, 390. 

Spagenburg, 444. 

Spanish intercourse with Japan, 109,113,126, 
155, 171, 179, 186. 

Spex, Jacob, 153—153. 

Spinola, 186. 

Springs, Hot, 188, 337, 488. 


Stewart, Captain, alias Torrey, 446—448. 
Steinbrossin. See Tai. 

Street government, 265, 350. 

Sugar, 245, 389, 466, 507, 559. 

Suicide, 69. 

Suruga, 99, 129, 145, 148, 168, 355. 

Suwa, festival of, 226, 270. 

Sweetmeats, 313. 

Sweating-houses, 309, 310. 

Swords, privilege of wearing, 54, 279, 483 ; 
manner of wearing, 221,414, 418, 521 ; how 
forged, 414. 

Tachitay-Kachi, 474—483. 

Tael, 22. 

Tai, or Steinbrossin, 272. 

Taiko-Sama, 112,116,119,123,125—127,150, 
343, 382. 

Taxes, 269. 

Tanners, 254, 265. 

Tea, 313, 421, 466, 559. 

Temples, 64, 210, 211, 259, 260, 300—302, 
346, 358, 361, 379, 528, 530, 537. 

Tensa, or Gokinay, 129, 563. 

Tensio dai Dsin, 57, 60, 63, 271. 

Teeth, practice of blacking, 393, 434,475,487, 
Thevenot, 187, 200, 203. 

Thunberg, 221, 284, 296, 297, 315, 387-423. 
Time, divisions of, 35, 266 ; measures of, 396, 
488. 

Times (New York), 533. 

Tira (Buddhist temples), 61, 300. 

Titsingh, 35, 70, 8.3, 215, 266,284,355,362, 
365, 385, 411, 412, 420, 424—443. 

Tobacco, 331, 347, 395. 

Torres, de Father. See Cosme de Torres. 
Tortures, 188, 190. 

Towns, 298. 

Tombstones, 395. 

Toko (recess), 306. 

Tokowari (closet), 307. 

Tribune (New York), 526, 528, 537, 

Trigault, Nicholas, 178, 179, n. 

Tsubo (garden), 305, 306, 311. 

Tsju (a measure), 257. 

Uta (epigram), 335, 549. 

Valignani, Alexan(ler, 84—86, 99, 102, 104, 
105, 108, 109,114,126, 130, n., 554. 
Vegetables, 219, 395, 462, 538. 

Venereal diseases, 393. 

Verhogeii’s fleet, 133, 134. 

Verhoeven’s fleet, 142, 155. 

Vilela, Gaspard, 76, 80—82, 443. 

Villages, 299. 

Volcanoes, 33^, 429, 431, 568. 

Voyages des Indes, 154,187, 194,195. 
Voyages au Nord, 192, 200, 201, 203, 204. 
Water (for shipping), 533. 

Whale fishery, Japanese, 196 ; foreign, 479, 
506. 

Wheat, 146,167, 404. 

Windows, 296, 389, 399, 400, 541. 

Williams, S. W., 491, 493, 514, 532, n., 558. 
Wittert, Admiral, 153. 

Wood (timber and cabinet), 63,408, 559 ; fire, 
533. 

Xavier, Francis, 40, 42, 45—50, 71—76. 
Ximo, or Kiusiu, 32, 53, 79, 81—83, 101, 112, 
116, 130, 176, 205. 264, 289, 327. 
Xogun-Sama, 177, 178. 

Yam, Japanese, 394. 

I Zaccarini (Flora japonica), 490. 


I^AYS/ 








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